X«cd™^r-:X^e.-^^--^^@. 


.«iliM 


BX  9225  .B3  R6  1905 
Robinson,  Charles  Edward, 

1835- 
Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 


ijjCeuccouLA  ^^9--/ 


Malthie  Davenport  Bahcock 

A  Reminiscent  Sketch  and  Memorial 
By  Charles  E.  Robinson,  D,  D. 


God's  endless  love  !     What  ivill  it  be 
When  earthly  shadoius  fiee  aivay. 
For  all  eternity's  bright  day 

The  unfolding  of  that  love  to  see  ! 

M.D.B. 


New  York       Chicago       Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London    and    Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  63  Washington  Street 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street,  W 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    30   St.    Mary   Street 


7<?  Katharine   Tallman  Babcocky 

Wife  of 

Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock, 

This  book  is  affectionately  dedicated  by  the  devoted 

friend  of  them  both. 

Charles  E.    Robinson. 


This  is  the  death  of  Death,  to  breathe  away  a 

breath 
And  knozv  the  end  of  strife,  and  taste  the 

deathless  life. 

And  joy  without  a  fear,  and  smile  without  a 

tear 
And  work,  nor  care,  nor  rest,  and  find  the  last 

the  best.  — M.  D.  B. 


Preface 

THESE  pages  are  not  designed  to 
afford  a  philosophic  study  of  Dr. 
Babcock's  Hfe,  nor  an  analysis  of  the 
sources  of  his  remarkable  power,  but  just 
what  the  name  given  them  indicates.  They 
took  shape  first  in  the  form  of  a  biographical 
sketch,  which  the  writer  was  requested  to 
prepare  for  the  students  of  Auburn  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  while  there  two  years  ago, 
during  the  year  of  Professor  Hoyt's  absence 
in  Europe;  his  lifelong  intimacy  with  Dr. 
Babcock  and  his  family  being  the  reason  for 
the  request. 

The    earnest   desire   expressed   by   many 
friends  to  have  this  sketch  put  in  more  per- 
manent form,  is  the  excuse  for  its  publica- 
tion.    To   do   so  required   its    enlargement 
7 


8  Preface 

sufficient  to  reach  the   proportions   of    this 
Httle  book. 

As  it  was  not  thought  best  to  eliminate 
the  personal  features  of  the  sketch,  several 
claiming  that  it  was  just  what  they  wanted, 
it  has  taken  the  shape  and  title  of  "  A  Rem- 
iniscent sketch  "  of  a  life  too  attractive  and 
beautiful,  too  noble  and  helpful  to  have  no 
memento.  Now  that  it  is  prepared  it  seems 
wholly  inadequate. 

It  is  impossible  to  write  of  Dr.  Babcock  in 

terms  less  than  superlative.     To  do  so  would 

lead   one  to  incur  the  chiding  of  his  other 

friends.     The   quotations    appended   at   the 

end  of  the  volume,  are  not  only  to  give  the 

pathetic  tributes  to  his  memory,  but  to  show 

that  those  who  wrote  them  came  also  under 

the  same  spell  of  his  short  but  memorable 

career. 

C.  E.  R. 

Pelham  Manor ^  N.  T,, 
September,  igo4> 


A  SECOND  edition  of  this  sketch 
having  been  called  for,  it  gives  me 
opportunity  to  make  acknowledgment 
that  the  verses  by  Dr.  Babcock  appearing  in 
this  volume  are  reprinted  by  permission  of 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  from  their  publica- 
tion entitled  "  Thoughts  for  Every  Day  Liv- 
ing ;  "  and  also  that  the  Sunday-School  Times y 
the  Golden  Rule  Company,  and  the  Inde- 
pendent have  generously  granted  me  free  use 
of  those  verses  of  Dr.  Babcock's  for  which 
they  have  copyrights.  I  am  also  indebted  to 
the  Brown  Mernorial  Church  of  Baltimore 
for  the  material  ♦*  In  Memoriam." 

Charles  E.  Robinson. 
Pelham  Manors  N,  T,, 
April,  igoS' 


Contents 

I. 

CHILDHOOD       . 

II 

II. 

COLLEGE  DAYS 

19 

III. 

SEMINARY  LIFE 

29 

IV. 

LOCKPORT 

47 

V. 

BALTIMORE 

71 

VI. 

HIS  WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS 

AND  COLLEGES      . 

. 

89 

VII. 

NEW  YORK 

. 

109 

VIII. 

IN  MEMORIAM 

. 

135 

10 


I 

CHILDHOOD 


When  I  was  a  child — /  spake  as  a  child,  I  un- 
derstood as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child, — Paul. 

And  thy   brothers,    the   help    and  the   contest,   the 

working  whence  grew 
Such  result  as  from  seething  grape-bundles  the  spirit 

strained  true  : 
And  the  friends  of  thy  boyhood — that  boyhood  of 

wonder  and  hope 
Present  promise  and  wealth  of  the  future  beyond  the 

eye^s  scope. 

— Browning. 


At  about  four  years  of  age. 


CHILDHOOD 

THE  remembrance  of  Maltbie  Bab- 
cock's  childhood,  takes  me  back  in 
thought  to  the  earlier  period  when  I 
first  met  his  mother  before  her  marriage.     I 
seem  to  be  once  more  at  Hamilton  College, 
sitting  in  the  window  of  my  room  in  "  Mid- 
dle College,  South  Hall  Third  front  middle." 
I  see  again  the  lithe  girlish  form  of  a  young 
lady,  who  with  elastic  step  is    crossing  the 
campus.     It  was   Miss  Emily  Maltbie,  who 
was  going  from  the  residence  of  her  late 
grandfather,  Ex-President  Davis  of  the  col- 
lege, where  his  widow  a  notably  brilliant  and 
attractive    woman    was   then   residing,   and 
where  Miss  Maltbie  was  passing  the  summer, 
to  call  on  Mrs.  President  North  on  the  south 
side  of  the  college  grounds. 

Soon   after  that  I  was  presented  to  her, 
13 


14  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

and  subsequently  was  permitted  to  be  very- 
intimate  in  her  family  at  Syracuse,  after  her 
marriage.  It  would  require  a  separate  article 
to  pay  any  adequate  tribute  to  the  rare  quali- 
ties of  mind,  heart  and  soul  of  the  mother  of 
Maltbie  Babcock.  Her  memory  is  an  inspi- 
ration not  only  to  her  children,  but  to  all 
who  knew  her,  and  who  came  within  the 
wide  circle  of  her  intense  spiritual  life. 

Mr.  Henry  Babcock,  her  husband,  was  an 
attractive,  charming  man,  socially  promi- 
nent in  Syracuse.  In  his  youth  at  school 
at  "  the  Homer  Academy,"  he  became  an 
intimate  friend  of  him  who  is  now  the 
eminent  missionary  at  Beirut,  Syria,  the 
Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup,  D.  D. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Babcock  lived  with  Mrs. 
Babcock's  mother,  the  widow  of  the  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Davenport  Maltbie,  at  one  time  pas- 
tor of  Hamilton  College  Chapel.  Mrs.  Malt- 
bie's  residence  was  in  a  quite  stately  house, 
situated  in  the  centre  of  a  large  lawn  on 
James  Street,  corner  McBride  Street,  in  one  of 


Childhood  1 5 

the  most  attractive  quarters  of  the  city  of  Syra- 
cuse. It  has  since  been  removed  to  a  lower 
part  of  the  lot,  and  now  faces  McBride  Street, 
and  although  somewhat  reduced  in  size,  its 
lovely  interior,  as  the  home  of  Mr.  Howard 
N.  Babcock,  Dr.  Babcock's  oldest  brother, 
still  shows  what  the  place  once  was. 

It  was  the  home  of  quiet,  cultured,  refined 
women,  hushed  to  specially  low  voices,  and 
silent  step,  because  of  the  presence  for  many 
years  of  an  invalid  cousin,  a  woman  of  much 
beauty,  but  who  never  left  her  suite  of 
rooms,  and  was  rarely  seen,  save  by  her 
nurse,  and  at  certain  hours  of  the  day  by 
some  of  the  members  of  the  family.  Mrs. 
Maltbie,  with  her  tall  form,  dignified  pres- 
ence, in  white  hair  and  widow's  weeds,  and 
her  turban-like  cap  of  white  lace  with  its 
long  lace  strings,  and  with  a  look  of  other 
worldliness  in  her  saintly  "  slow  wise  smile," 
gave  an  added  charm  to  the  strange  quiet  of 
the  house.  Her  two  daughters,  trained  to 
the  greatest  reverence  for  her,  never  thought 


1 6  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

of  questioning  her  judgment  or  author- 
ity. 

The  introduction  of  a  boy  hke  Maltbie 
into  that  house,  followed  in  successive  years 
by  other  boys  and  girls,  full  of  life  and  child- 
hood's enterprise,  entirely  reversed  the  order 
of  that  quiet  household.  Maltbie  was  a  boy 
to  be  reckoned  with.  And  this  venerable 
stately  Mrs.  Maltbie,  accustomed  to  the  un- 
questioning veneration  of  her  children,  found 
this  "  human  boy  "  an  astounding  revelation. 
His  merry  voice  ringing  through  the  house, 
his  unvelveted  tread,  his  mischievous  pranks, 
some  of  which  he  dared  to  play  upon  his 
grandmother  even,  and  his  startling,  unin- 
vited intrusions  upon  the  heretofore  silent 
sanctity,  and  almost  awe-inspiring  mystery 
of  the  sick-room,  brought  a  new  life  into  the 
still  house ;  and  they  all  delighted  in  it,  even 
the  invalid. 

Into  this  refined  home,  where  to  know 
Mrs.  Maltbie  well  was  almost  like  a  liberal 
education  to  any  young  man  privileged  to 


At  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 


Childhood  17 

be  intimate  there,  Maltbie  Davenport  Bab- 
cock  was  born  August  3d,  1858.  His  child- 
hood was  very  attractive.  He  was  a  robust, 
independent  boy ;  sometimes  willful,  very 
merry,  often  full  of  mischief,  and  from  the 
first  he  showed  a  great  deal  of  character.  In 
his  boyhood  he  was  a  leader  in  sport,  a  mas- 
terful boy.  He  came  to  be  early  a  fine  singer, 
and  a  very  proficient  player  on  several  mu- 
sical instruments,  notably,  the  organ,  the 
piano,  and  the  viola. 

When  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old  he 
organized  an  orchestra,  composed  of  boys 
about  his  own  age,  and  when  such  things 
were  not  as  common  as  they  are  now;  he 
also  arranged  the  music  for  it.  At  sixteen 
he  was  a  recognized  champion  baseball 
player,  being  specially  noted  as  a  pitcher. 
During  his  ministry  his  reputation  as  an 
athlete,  and  his  taste  for  athletic  pursuits  fol- 
lowed him.  The  boys  of  the  town,  as  well 
as  those  of  his  parish,  would  involuntarily 
get  up  their  muscle  as  they  saw  him  coming 


1 8   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

near,  assuring  themselves  that  what  he  did 
not  know  about  athletics  was  not  worth 
knowing. 

In  that  boyhood  he  was  clean  of  speech, 
and  made  short  work  of  rude  fellows  of  the 
baser  sort.  A  story  is  told  that  when  a  big 
boy,  on  the  baseball  grounds,  was  persist- 
ently annoying  and  bullying  the  younger 
ones,  and  defihng  the  air  with  his  profane 
and  unchaste  speech,  Maltbie  took  him  by 
the  nape  of  the  neck  and  the  seat  of  his 
trousers,  and  flinging  him  over  the  fence, 
hurled  after  him  the  familiar  phrase  "  Over 
the  fence  is  out."  He  was,  at  that  early  age, 
a  very  successful  Sunday-school  teacher,  and 
a  woman  who  had  a  class  next  to  his,  used 
to  say  that  she  could  hardly  keep  her  atten- 
tion on  her  lesson  and  her  own  class,  she 
was  so  eager  to  hear  what  "  that  Babcock 
boy "  was  saying  to  his  class,  and  to  note 
the  deft  ingenious  way  he  managed  his  rest- 
less pupils. 


II 

COLLEGE  DAYS 


Oh,  the  xvild  joys  of  livings  the  leaping  from  rock  up 

to  rock — 
How  good  is  man^s   life,  the  mere  livi?ig  how  fit  to 

employ 
All  the  heart  and  the  soul  and  the  senses  forever  in 


joy  ! 


— Browning. 

This  is  my  Father'* s  world. 
Dreaming,  I  see  His  face. 
I  ope  my  eyes,  and  in  glad  surprise 
Cry,  "  The  Lord  is  in  this  place.'' 

— M.  D.  B. 


II 

COLLEGE  DAYS 

IN  the  autumn  of  1875  he  entered 
Syracuse  University.  He  was  there 
also  the  leader  of  an  orchestra,  the 
leader  of  a  glee  club,  captain  of  a  base- 
ball nine,  and  in  the  front  rank  in  his  class. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  so  much  a  part 
of  the  social  life  of  Syracuse,  that  he  was 
wanted  in  all  directions  by  adults  and  young 
people  alike.  A  social  function  was  hardly 
considered  a  success  if  he  could  not  be  pres- 
ent. Even  then  his  mental  alertness,  and 
the  multiform  character  of  his  work  were 
very  noticeable.  One  day  I  said  to  him, 
knowing  how  well  he  stood  in  his  studies, 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  social  diversion, 
"  Maltbie,  how  do  you  contrive  to  do  it  all  ? 
When  do  you  study?"  "Why,  Uncle 
Charlie,"  a  title  expressive  of  family  in- 
21 


22   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

timacy  and  not  of  blood  relation,  "  you 
know  that  the  University  is  a  long  distance 
from  home.  I  almost  always  walk  home 
alone,  and  as  I  carry  my  books  with  me  I 
generally  have  my  lessons  by  the  time  I 
reach  there."  At  that  early  period  in  his 
life,  he  had  acquired  the  habit,  which  was  so 
characteristic  of  Carlyle,  of  grasping  what 
was  on  the  book's  page  without  exactly 
reading  the  words.  He  could  tell,  in  giving 
one  passing  glance  at  a  shop  window,  what 
was  there  on  exhibition,  sometimes  naming 
as  many  as  forty  or  fifty  different  articles. 

His  nervous  energy,  which  to  quote  Dr. 
Purves's  reference  to  him, "  was  the  symptom 
of  the  intensity  of  his  life,"  led  him  to  leave 
the  social  and  college  round  on  his  first  long 
vacation  to  spend  his  summer  on  a  farm,  as 
a  "  farmhand."  He  desired  to  get  as  near  as 
possible  to  nature's  heart;  he  knew  that 
there  was  entirely  another  side  of  life,  than 
the  one  he  was  leading  as  a  favorite  in  col- 
lege and  in  society,  and  he  wanted  to  be 


College   Days  23 

familiar  with  it.  He  was  sure  that  there 
was  much  interest  and  happiness  to  be 
found  in  hfe,  away  from  what  was  regarded 
as  essential  in  conventional  society.  A 
typical  Irishman  and  he  were  the  only 
"  hands  "  on  the  little  farm.  Life  was  quite 
primitive — the  work  was  the  hardest,  the 
diet  the  simplest.  Instead  of  becoming 
homesick  and  disheartened,  he  found  a  cer- 
tain relish  and  enjoyment  in  adjusting  him- 
self to  circumstances. 

Pat  was  an  unfaiHng  source  of  interest  and 
entertainment  to  him,  as,  for  years  after- 
wards, he  became  to  those  to  whom  Maltbie, 
with  inimitable  drollery  would  recount  that 
summer's  experience. 

The  young  collegian  was  boon  compan- 
ion, and  inspiring  instructor  to  the  ignorant 
Irishman.  Finding  him  utterly  in  the  dark 
about  the  moon's  phases,  and  ignorant  of 
the  source  of  its  brightness,  as  he  was  also 
of  all  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
Maltbie  turned  the  corn-field  into  a  lecture 


24  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

room  on  astronomy.  At  one  time  Pat  stood 
for  the  earth,  and  Maltbie  revolved  around 
him  as  the  moon,  turning  to  him  now  a  full 
face,  and  then  a  quarter,  and  so  on.  At  an- 
other time,  Maltbie's  hoe  was  stuck  in  the 
ground  to  represent  the  sun,  and  the  rake 
illustrated  the  earth's  distance  from  it,  and 
was  made  to  circle  around  it.  Meanwhile, 
Pat  leaning  on  his  hoe,  smiled  on  the  beam- 
ing face  of  his  young  professor  in  astronomy, 
and  with  a  mild  expression,  out  of  regard  to 
the  feelings  of  his  conscientious  comrade, 
but  wholly  inadequate  to  express  his  feelings 
he  said,  "  Phwat  a  big  thing  an  eddycation 
do  be."  The  summer  outing  was  an  entire 
success,  and  the  now  brown  and  stalwart 
young  fellow  returned  to  Syracuse,  with  a 
stock  of  health  and  of  stories  which  seemed 
never  failing.  More  than  one  boy  in  sub- 
sequent years,  under  the  fascination  of 
Maltbie's  recounting  the  humorous  and 
strenuous  incidents  of  that  summer,  followed 
his  example,  as  some  of  the  farmers  in  that 


College  Days  25 

region  may  remember,  but  alas  !  they  missed 
Pat  and  Maltbie  alike. 

By  the  time  he  came  to  his  senior  year,  he 
had  made  such  an  impression  upon  his  rela- 
tives and  family  friends,  with  respect  to  his 
diversified  gifts,  that  his  own  family  became 
greatly  perplexed  by  their  suggestions,  as  to 
what  he  should  be  and  what  he  should  do  in 
life.  There  was  a  distinguished  army  officer, 
a  resident  of  Syracuse,  and  a  friend  of  the 
family,  who  was  sure  that  this  brave,  stal- 
wart, fine  appearing  young  fellow  should  be 
a  soldier.  A  cultured  relative  opposed  that 
suggestion.  Why  !  he  was  born  for  a  bril- 
liant literary  career.  A  prominent  lawyer, 
and  a  close  family  friend  was  certain  that 
they  would  make  a  great  mistake  if  they  did 
not  put  him  in  the  law.  There  was  not  a 
department  in  law  in  which  he  would  not  be 
eminently  successful,  especially  as  an  advo- 
cate. An  uncle  well  known  in  political 
circles,  and  a  member  of  Congress  thought 
they  should  enter  him  on  a  life  of  public 


26  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

service.  A  well  known  organist  pointed  to 
his  remarkable  musical  gifts,  not  short  of 
genius,  and  marvelled  that  they  could  not  see 
a  something  perhaps  greater  than  Mendels- 
sohn in  him;  not  merely  a  musician,  but 
one  having  all  the  essentials  to  a  great  com- 
poser. But  the  pastor  said  that,  without 
question  he  should  be  a  minister  of  the 
gospel. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  considering  his 
unique  personality,  that  undoubtedly  he 
would  have  been  eminently  successful  in  any 
one  of  these  lines  of  service.  Both  his 
parents  inclined  very  decidedly  to  that  last 
thought  of  his  calling.  But  at  the  same 
time  they  did  not  wish  to  constrain  him  to 
select  that  profession,  lest  his  strongest 
motive  should  be  to  gratify  them.  I  was  at 
that  time  the  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Rochester,  and  Maltbie  was  a 
frequent  and  welcome  visitor  at  our  home, 
and  already  almost  as  a  son  to  us.  His 
parents  wrote  me,  urging  me  to  use  my  in- 


College  Days  27 

fluence  to  help  him  to  decide  his  profession, 
especially  looking  towards  the  ministry.  We 
invited  him  to  spend  the  Thanksgiving  of  his 
senior  year  in  the  University  at  Syracuse, 
with  us  at  Rochester,  and  with  him  another 
attractive,  scholarly,  devout,  musical,  and 
socially  delightful  young  friend,  then  a  stu- 
dent at  Auburn  Theological  Seminary  and, 
now,  its  distinguished  Greek  professor  who 
knew  what  Maltbie's  parents  and  we  desired 
to  secure.  They  roomed  together,  and  before 
the  visit  was  over  Maltbie  had  decided  for  the 
ministry. 


Ill 

SEMINARY  LIFE 


But  when  I  became  a  man  I  put  away  childish 
things. — Paul. 

Then  onward  through  sunshine  and  storm  and  night 

No  tarrying  here,  my  soul; 
Thou  musty  if  thou  read  thy  chart  aright 

Push  steadily  on  to  thy  goal. 

— M.  D.  B. 

Do  it  now. 

— The  lifelong  motto  of  M.  D.  B. 


Ill 

SEMINARY  LIFE 

FROM  that  moment,  "  this  one  thing  I 
do,"  characterized  him.  Everything 
in  his  Hfe  about  which  there  might  be 
a  question,  in  such  a  profession,  but  which 
had  never  been  questioned  in  his  glad,  free, 
social  life,  he  dropped  without  any  hesitation 
or  boggle  over  what  he  should  give  up. 
There  was  no  talk  about  "  giving  up  any- 
thing." He  felt  that  in  his  decision  he  had 
taken  on,  and  had  taken  in  so  much  more 
that  was  delightful  and  glorious. 

The  first  day  that  he  reached  Auburn 
Seminary,  quoting  the  phrase  commonly  ap- 
plied to  the  inmates  of  quite  another  institu- 
tion at  Auburn,  he  said,  with  characteristic 
humour,  "  Well,  fellows,  I  have  been  sent  up 
for  three  years." 

He  showed  his  self-mastery  in  this  new 
31 


32  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

life.  He  was  heart  and  soul  with  the  fellows 
in  their  gatherings,  and  yet  no  social 
pleasures,  no  indulgence  in  appetite,  no 
temptation  to  late  hours  were  ever  allowed 
to  unfit  him  for  his  work.  Classmates,  with 
occasional  simple  and  harmless  midnight 
spreads,  used  to  be  almost  provoked  at  him. 
"  Oh,  come,  don't  go  off  to  bed  now,  just 
at  the  cream  of  the  evening.  Stay  and  make 
a  night  of  it." —  "  No,  fellows,  the  work  to- 
morrow demands  my  best  physical  condi- 
tion." 

His  very  unusual  musical  gifts  at  the  organ, 
piano  and  viola  naturally  gathered  around 
him  all  the  musically  inchned  in  the  seminary, 
and  without  any  question  he  was  their  leader. 
The  devotional  music  uniformly  good  in 
that  Institution  took  on  it  new  qualities 
of  fitness,  sweetness,  and  power.  There  was 
that  unmistakable  precision,  movement,  ring 
which  reveals  a  director.  A  seminary  quar- 
tette was  organized,  by  which  music  of  a 
high  order  was  so  well  sung,  that  the  quar- 


Seminary  Life  33 

tette  was  wanted  to  sing,  here  and  there,  in 
Auburn,  and  in  surrounding  towns  and  cities 
for  the  benefit  of  missionary  societies,  etc. 
Their  concert  given  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Rochester,  to  aid  the  Mission  Band, 
to  an  audience  distinguished  for  its  size, 
quaUty,  and  genuine  hearty  appreciation,  is 
still  recalled  with  pleasure  in  that  church. 

With  his  love  for  athletic  sports,  and 
conscious  of  the  theological  students'  need 
of  a  virile  frame,  and  quickened  heart-throbs, 
his  eye  readily  discerned  the  opportunities 
for  boating  on  the  lovely  Lake  Owasco. 
Those  who  accompanied  him  will  never  for- 
get the  rowing  on  that  lake,  the  songs,  the 
hilarity  and  good  cheer,  which  he  never 
failed  to  start,  calling  out  in  others  their  per- 
haps latent  capacities  for  enjoyment  and  hu- 
mour. One  young  man,  whose  pastor  wished 
him  to  decide  to  enter  Auburn,  and  who 
gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Maltbie, 
found  the  spirit,  enthusiasm  and  consecration 
of  that  coterie  of  fellows,  a  delight  to  him, 


34  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

and  a  ride  with  them  on  the  lake,  among 
other  very  interesting  things,  joining  his  own 
exquisite  tenor  to  their  harmonious  voices, 
while  they  now  floated  on  the  lake,  and  now 
almost  flew,  as  they  plied  their  oars,  helped 
him  to  decide  to  be  one  with  them  in  his 
theological  studies. 

Maltbie  Babcock  had  early  learned  what 
Paul  meant  by  "  keeping  his  body  under," 
not  to  impoverish  it,  for  he  had  a  magnificent 
physical  frame,  muscles  like  iron,  and  form 
sinewy,  athletic  and  graceful ;  but  he  "  kept 
his  body  under  "  to  give  it  its  best,  the  con- 
trol of  his  higher  nature,  as  the  basket  is  kept 
under  the  balloon  that  it  may  rise  with  it. 
His  fellow  students  came  to  regard  their  as- 
sociation with  him  at  that  period  of  their 
lives,  as  among  their  choice  privileges.  Their 
affectionate  reference  to  him,  when  at  the 
Alumni  gathering  at  the  Commencement 
after  his  death,  and  at  the  twentieth  anniver- 
sary of  the  graduation  of  their  class  in  1902 
showed  how  vividly  they  recalled  what  he  had 


Seminary  Life  35 

been  to  them.  But  when  he  graduated,  in- 
stead of  appearing  on  the  Commencement 
platform  with  an  elaborate  effort  to  display 
his  gifts,  his  oration  was  simply  a  manly  sum- 
mons to  a  consecrated  hfe. 

At  the  close  of  his  junior  year,  he  was  in- 
vited to  supply  the  pulpit  in  a  little  farming 
community  not  very  far  from  Syracuse,  where 
the  small  church  had  been  sometime  without 
a  pastor,  and  the  good  people  were  hungry 
for  religious  services.  They  welcomed  his 
advent  heartily,  and  he  at  once  threw  him- 
self with  enthusiasm  into  the  work.  He 
seemed  to  be  everywhere.  There  was  not  a 
house  at  "  the  corners,"  or  in  the  surrounding 
country,  which  he  did  not  visit,  and  where  he 
did  not  win,  at  once,  all  hearts  by  his  frank, 
genuine  interest,  his  sincerity  and  his  marked 
personality. 

The  little  church  building  was  soon  filled 
on  Sabbath  mornings.  Farmers  accustomed 
perhaps  to  tones  of  voice  in  the  pulpit,  and 
methods  of  presenting  truth,  which  suggested 


36   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

and  helped  on  the  tendency  to  summer 
somnolence,  waked  up.  Their  boys,  who  it 
may  be  during  the  service,  had  willingly  kept 
guard  of  the  horses  in  the  sheds  surrounding 
the  church,  and  may  not  have  thought  that 
the  preaching  had  in  it  anything  for  them, 
were  in  the  galleries  with  interested  faces 
and  alert  minds.  Here  was  a  very  cultivated 
young  gentleman,  evidently  accustomed  to 
move  in  what  they  may  have  called  higher 
circles,  who  knew  all  about  farming — who 
understood  their  lives,  who  spoke  their  lan- 
guage, and  who  had  found  his  way  to  their 
hearts.  It  was  no  perfunctory  service  for  the 
sake  of  getting  his  hand  in,  and  securing  the 
summer's  stipend.  He  had  the  same  eager 
earnestness  to  catch  men,  which  through  sub- 
sequent years  gave  such  power  to  his  min- 
istry. 

One  Sunday,  while  he  was  there,  quite  a 
number  of  his  society  friends  in  Syracuse 
got  up  a  party  to  drive  out  and  hear  him 
preach.     Without    really   intending   it,   and 


Seminary  Life  37 

with  no  thought  of  being  irreverent,  it  was 
nevertheless  somewhat  of  a  Sunday  lark. 
As  they  drove  along,  they  amused  them- 
selves over  what  would  be  his  astonishment 
to  see  them  enter  the  church.  They 
prophesied  that  they  would  make  him 
laugh.  They  had  no  idea  how  far  the 
spirit  of  his  work  was  in  his  very  blood. 
They  found  the  church  full,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  empty  pews  in  front.  They 
filed  in  before  that  audience,  and  that  sur- 
prised preacher  with  illy  concealed  smiles. 
But  to  the  young  minister  it  was  his  op- 
portunity to  let  them  know  how  the  love  of 
his  work  possessed  his  soul,  and  to  help 
them  into  a  new  and  better  religious  life. 
He  was  quickened  to  unusual  earnestness 
and  power  in  preaching,  and  these  city 
friends  who  had  come  to  smile  remained  to 
pray.  And  some  of  them  who  had  won- 
dered why  he,  so  fitted  to  shine  in  and  adorn 
society,  and  to  make  a  great  success  in  the 
world,  should  enter  the  ministry,  found  out 


38   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

then.  It  was  wholly  characteristic  of  him ; 
with  the  keenest  sense  of  humour  where 
humour  was  in  place,  himself  the  very  soul 
of  wit,  he  was,  from  the  first,  no  trifler,  and 
he  rose  to  the  height  of  the  occasion. 

All  who  knew  him,  while  he  was  in  the 
seminary,  agree  that  his  course  was  notable 
for  his  varied  gifts,  his  personal  magnetism, 
and  his  methodical  habits.  His  room  was  a 
model  of  neatness,  order  and  the  display  of 
excellent  taste.  There  was  something  al- 
most like  genius  in  his  ability  to  take  the 
commonest  things,  and  combine  them  to 
produce  the  most  artistic  effects.  With 
little  or  no  expense,  he  made  his  study  in 
the  seminary  building  attractive  enough  to 
satisfy  the  most  refined  and  exacting  taste. 
He  could  have  turned  a  woodshed  into  a 
bower  of  delight.  Later  in  life,  while  at  the 
manse  in  Baltimore,  he  had  a  workshop, 
where  during  a  severe  and  prolonged  illness 
of  Mrs.  Babcock,  when  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  be  in  the  house,  he  made  very  pretty 


Seminary  Life  39 

little  desks  and  cabinets,  highly  finished. 
His  carpenter  tools  he  had  arranged  on  the 
walls  of  his  workshop  like  pictures.  His 
plumbing  tools,  and  many  other  implements 
for  working  in  iron,  were  hung  in  a  way 
to  suggest  that  some  artist  in  iron,  from 
old  Nuremburg,  had  strayed  there.  I  am 
not  sure  but  that  he  had  a  shoemaker's 
kit,  for  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  which 
he  could  not  do,  and  in  a  masterly  manner, 
from  mending  a  shoe  to  painting  a  picture, 
from  playing  a  jewsharp,  which  he  could  do 
in  a  fascinating  way,  to  the  most  bewilder- 
ing and  delightful  harmonies,  from  any 
form  of  attractive  speech,  to  an  enthrone- 
ment of  pulpit  power.  Like  Henry  Drum- 
mond,  whom  he  seems  to  have  resembled  in 
many  ways,  he  could  wear  nothing  that  did 
not  seem  to  be  in  "  good  form."  His  artistic 
taste  showed  itself  here,  as  elsewhere.  He 
was  always  most  fittingly  dressed  for  every 
occasion.  The  outing  apparel,  which  in 
others  might  be  ungainly  and  slouching,  in 


40  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

him  always  took  on,  in  the  same  strange 
way,  an  air  of  elegance,  even  to  his  bathing 
suit;  which  as  he  came  from  the  water 
seemed  to  emphasize  his  manly  bearing. 

His  industry,  during  his  seminary  course, 
was  a  marked  feature  of  his  student  life. 
His  notes  of  the  lectures  of  his  teachers  were 
even  then  a  prophecy  of  what  he  was  to  be 
in  thoroughness.  His  annotating  his  books 
was  a  special  feature  of  his  study.  He  de- 
veloped a  system,  then,  of  collecting  mate- 
rial, gleaning  from  all  fields,  which  was  one 
of  the  secrets  of  his  success  in  later  life. 
After  he  entered  the  ministry,  he  carried  out 
that  plan  very  fully.  In  general,  instead  of 
taking  the  time  in  the  morning  to  read  the 
newspapers,  he  would  give  a  sweeping  glance 
over  them,  marking  with  a  coloured  pencil 
such  editorial  articles  as  he  deemed  of  serv- 
ice to  him,  and  his  wife,  or  later  on  his 
secretary  would  cut  them  out,  and  place 
them  in  order  in  the  various  pigeonholes 
designed  for  them.     When  he  was  in  Balti- 


Seminary  Life  41 

more,  being  requested  to  give,  in  a  very- 
short  time,  a  lecture  on  Calvin,  to  the  stu- 
dents of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  he 
wondered  where  he  should  get  the  material 
for  it,  but  found  in  his  collection,  the  result 
of  years  of  accumulation,  that  he  had  already 
about  all  that  was  necessary,  as  a  basis  to 
work  on,  in  preparing  the  lecture.  It  was 
during  the  vacation  of  the  Middle  Seminary 
year,  that  he  spent  two  weeks  with  us  at  our 
then  summer  home,  at  Washington,  Litch- 
field County,  Connecticut.  The  young  people 
who  were  gathered  there  that  summer,  the 
spirit  of  the  place,  the  lovely  scenery,  and 
the  opportunities  for  fishing  and  boating  on 
the  Wauramaug  Lake,  for  baseball,  and  for 
croquet  on  the  village  green,  and  for  music 
in  almost  every  house  around  the  green,  into 
which  the  social  hfe  ebbed  and  flowed,  with 
the  most  charming  freedom,  and  the  uncon- 
ventionaHty  of  true  culture,  were  just  suited 
to  him,  and  he  gave  himself  up  to  it  with  a 
zest  pecuhar  to  him.     His  enjoyment  in,  and 


42   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

enthusiasm  over  such  outings  were  conta- 
gious. There,  as  everywhere  else,  he  fasci- 
nated the  hearts  of  his  friends.  He  was 
continually  surrounded  with  a  raft  of  admir- 
ing young  people.  They  had  been  waiting 
for  him.  He  was  already  like  a  brother  to 
our  sons,  and  through  them,  the  others  had 
come  to  anticipate  eagerly  his  arrival.  The 
carriage  conveying  him  from  the  station  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  to  the  house  on  the  green 
was  filled  with  welcoming  fellows,  and  as  it 
appeared,  it  was  hailed  with  a  shout.  A 
college  song  was  started,  and  he  reached  the 
house  amid  a  resounding  chorus.  Within 
ten  minutes  he  had  doffed  his  travelling  suit, 
and  had  donned  his  outing  clothes,  and  was 
at  the  piano.  It  was  an  old  instrument, 
happily  accustomed  to  hard  usage.  As  he 
sat  there,  with  one  boy  leaning  on  his 
shoulder,  another  seated  on  the  lid  of  the 
piano,  with  his  banjo,  another  leaning  on  the 
piano,  facing  Maltbie,  with  a  most  joyous  re- 
sponsive face,  and  two  others  thumping  the 


Seminary  Life  43 

time  in  each  other's  sides,  as  they  sang 
"  Mike  Higgins  gave  a  par-r-ty  "  or  some 
rollicking  college  song,  while  a  bevy  of 
merry  girls  encircled  them,  his  voice  reso- 
nant, clear  and  stirring,  his  face  radiant  with 
good  cheer,  and  with  the  unmistakable 
mark  about  him  of  high  breeding  at  perfect 
liberty,  too  well-born  and  at  ease  to  think 
about  manner,  it  presented  a  picture  which 
we  have  delighted  to  recall  again  and  again, 
and  which  cannot  be  effaced. 

Some  of  the  boys  had  never  seen  just  such 
a  Christian  before,  happy  and  radiant  of  soul, 
not  despite  his  being  a  Christian,  but  because 
he  was  one.  He  was  the  best  pitcher  in 
baseball  that  they  had  ever  seen,  "  curv- 
ing "  the  ball  with  matchless  skill,  the  best 
swimmer,  the  best  singer,  one  who  could  get 
music  out  of  any  instrument,  and  the  droll- 
est, the  most  fascinating  fellow  they  had 
ever  met.  They  gained  their  first  deep  re- 
Hgious  convictions  then.  One  of  them,  who 
was  seven  miles  away,  when  Sunday  came, 


44   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

and  Maltbie  was  to  preach,  walked  the  entire 
distance  to  hear  him,  and  declared  that  he 
would  have  walked  twice  that  distance  rather 
than  to  have  missed  him.  Others,  boarding 
on  the  hillsides  five,  four  or  three  miles 
away,  joined  him,  making  quite  a  procession 
to  hear  the  young  minister,  and  listening  to 
him,  in  that  country  church,  as  if  for  their 
life,  and  declaring,  at  the  close  of  the  service, 
not  only  that  they  had  never  heard  such  a 
sermon  as  that  before,  but  also  frankly  con- 
fessing that  they  would  like  to  live  more 
Christlike  lives.  That  visit  made  ineffaceable 
impressions.  Persons  who  have  never  seen 
him  since,  have  cherished,  through  all  these 
years,  the  brightest  memories  of  it.  Only 
this  summer,  1904,  a  man  from  Albany  who, 
with  his  family,  was  there  then,  and  who 
never  repeated  his  visit,  asked  a  mutual 
friend,  what  had  ever  become  of  that  re- 
markable young  Babcock ;  learning  only 
then,  that  it  was  he,  who  in  the  fullness  of  his 
powers,  was  the  famous  preacher  of  the  Brick 


Seminary  Life  45 

Church,  New  York.  He  had  never  forgot- 
ten him,  and  had  often  wondered  through 
the  years,  into  what  marked  personality  he 
had  developed. 

He  graduated  from  Auburn  Seminary  in 
the  spring  of  1882. 


IV 
LOCKPORT 


For  we  preach  not  ourselves ,  but  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord :  and  ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake, — 
Paul. 

Be  strong  ! 
We  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream,  to  drift ; 
We  have  hard  work  to  do,  and  loads  to  lift. 
Shun  not  the  struggle  ;  face  it,     '  Tis  God's  gift, 

— M.  D.  B. 


IV 

LOCKPORT 

UPON  his  graduation  from  Auburn 
he  was  called  at  once  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Lockport, 
N.  Y.  It  was  a  church  then,  as  it  is  now,  of 
great  importance  in  Western  New  York.  A 
field  which  would  demand  of  any  young  man 
his  best,  and  many  feared  that  he  was  too 
young  to  undertake  such  a  responsibility.  It 
had  been  for  many  years  the  pulpit  throne 
of  a  very  remarkable  man,  Dr.  Wisner.  A 
man  whose  wit  and  humour,  and  sympathy, 
whose  intellect,  evangelical  spirit  and  per- 
sonal power  triumphed  over  an  unpromising 
personal  appearance,  fairly  making  it,  in 
some  fascinating  way  accessory  to  his  wide- 
spread influence  and  reputation.  It  was  go- 
ing to  be  hard  for  a  young  man,  just  out  of 
the  seminary  to  follow  him  and  his  im- 
49 


50   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

mediate   and   popular   successor,  Dr.   Free- 
man. 

While  some  feared  for  the  young  preacher, 
those  who  knew  him  best  were  convinced 
that  he  was  called  of  God  to  the  position, 
and  would  be  upheld.  His  methodical 
habits,  his  real  ability,  his  unfailing  en- 
thusiasm, and  his  genuine  spirituality,  all 
were  used  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  was  a 
period  of  great  joy.  He  had  perfect  health, 
a  most  interesting  and  inspiring  church,  a 
very  appreciative  people,  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  entered  upon  the  chosen  work 
of  his  life.  He  magnified  his  calling.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  world  equal  to  it.  All 
these  things  combined  to  fill  his  cup  to  over- 
flowing, for  that  cup  was  held  up  to  the  un- 
failing source  of  all  fullness.  He  never 
thought  of  relying  upon  his  physical 
strength,  nor  his  tact,  nor  his  mental  re- 
sources to  carry  him  through.  He  had  clear 
definite  views  of  his  own  insufficiency,  and  a 
very  decided  personal  reHgious   experience. 


Lockport  5 1 

Friendship  with  Jesus  Christ  was  a  great 
reahty  to  him,  even  then  in  his  early  min- 
istry. The  poem  "  Companionship,"  which 
he  wrote  later  in  life,  he  was  working  out  in 
his  first  ministry  in  Lockport. 

No  distant  Lord  have  I, 

Loving  afar  to  be. 
Made  flesh  for  me,  He  cannot  rest 

Until  He  rests  in  me. 

Brother  in  joy  and  pain^ 

Bone  of  my  bone  was  He, 
Now, — intimacy  closer  still 

He  dwells  Himself  in  me. 

I  need  not  journey  far 

This  dearest  friend  to  see, 
Companionship  is  always  mine, 

He  makes  His  home  with  me. 

I  envy  not  the  twelve. 

Nearer  to  me  is  He  ; 
The  life  He  once  lived  here  on  earth 

He  lives  again  in  me. 

Ascended  now  to  God, 

My  witness  there  to  be, 
His  vvritness  here,  am  I  because 

His  spirit  dwells  in  me. 


52   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

0  Glorious  Son  of  God, 
Incarnate  Deity, 

1  shall  forever  be  with  Thee 
Because  Thou  art  with  me. 


He  adopted  a  certain  phrase  for  his  rule  of 
life,  which  has  become  identified  with  him. 
"  Do  it  now/'  Whatever  it  was,  nothing 
was  to  be  deferred,  to  be  put  off.  He  de- 
termined to  keep  ahead  of  his  work.  One 
can  always  tell  those  who  are  over  rather 
than  under  their  business,  ahead  and  pulling, 
rather  than  behind  and  dragged.  In  supply- 
ing the  pulpit  in  Lockport,  before  he  was 
called,  he  had  preached  nearly  all  the  ser- 
mons which  he  had  prepared  in  the  semi- 
nary. After  his  first  Sunday,  as  pastor,  he 
found  that  he  had  but  two  sermons  which  he 
had  not  preached  there,  and  he  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  would  keep  two  sermons  ahead 
of  him,  while  in  that  parish,  a  plan  which  he 
carried  out.  No  one  but  a  minister  can 
quite  understand  just  what  that  involved  in 
the  first  pastorate.     He  seemed  to  come  at 


Lockport  53 


once,  into  the  power  to  hold  his  work  well 
in  hand.  Like  successful  merchants,  or  pro- 
fessional men,  who  know  how  to  centre  all 
the  lines  of  their  interests  in  their  office,  and 
have  them  radiate  with  vitalizing  power  to 
the  farthest  reach  of  those  interests,  who,  no 
matter  what  the  new  claims  which  throng 
upon  them,  with  each  new  day,  are  never 
upset  nor  confused,  but  always  ahead  of 
their  work :  so  Maltbie  Babcock,  from  the  . 
start  kept  in  advance  of  his  work.  He  never  \ 
seemed  harassed  nor  hurried,  and  never 
driven.     He  kept  the  reins  in  his  own  hands,     j 

He  began,  at  once,  systematic  visitation, 
as  well  as  systematic  study.  He  had  no 
such  narrowness  as  to  confine  his  pastoral 
visits  to  the  poor  alone ;  as  if  the  rich  had 
so  much  in  their  wealth,  that  they  needed  no 
pastoral  care  nor  oversight.  He  had  no 
such  snobbery  as  to  limit  his  visits  to  the 
cultured  and  wealthy.  He  had  a  profound 
sympathy  for  the  poor  and  lonely,  for  those 
who  were  "  under  the  wheel." 


54  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

Any  one  under  his  care,  however  plain, 
unattractive  or  common  was  an  object  of  his 
affectionate  interest,  and  perhaps,  because  he 
might  be  plain,  unattractive  and  common  to 
others.  To  the  uncomely  parts  of  his  parish 
he  paid  more  abundant  honour.  He  was  on 
the  alert  to  see  how  much  could  be  made 
out  of  unpromising  material.  He  found  it 
most  fascinating  to  note  the  change  wrought 
in  such  an  one,  under  the  influence  and 
mastery  of  Jesus.  He  neglected  no  one, 
poor  or  rich.  An  incident  in  his  early 
pastoral  work  comes  to  my  mind.  I  relate 
it  without  any  hesitation,  because  it  reflects 
very  much  credit,  in  the  result,  on  the 
parishioner  himself.  He  was  a  very  well- 
to-do  elderly  man,  in  prominent  business 
circles ;  very  reserved,  and  supposed  to  be 
inaccessible  to  religious  influences.  The 
young  pastor  sought  him  out ;  for  this  very 
reason  he  did  not  propose  to  neglect  him. 
He  went  to  him,  as  one  in  need  of  redemp- 
tion.    With  the  tact  which  he  possessed  by 


Lockport  55 

nature  and  by  grace,  he  urged  him  to  con- 
sider and  yield  to  the  claims  which  Christ 
had  upon  him.  The  proud  man  was  an- 
noyed that  he  should  approach  him  on  this 
subject,  and  curtly  and  coldly  strove  to  close 
the  interview,  as  if  he  were  intruding  upon 
him.  But  his  pastor  with  calmness  and 
self-possession  explained  to  him  that  he  was 
in  the  discharge  of  his  holy  business,  just  in 
that  act,  and  firmly  though  courteously  in- 
sisted that  he  should  be  so  recognized  as  a 
Christian  minister,  and  not  as  a  boy.  The 
offended  parishioner  was  obliged  to  grant 
this,  but  he  was  so  thoroughly  annoyed  and 
irritated  that  he  ceased  attending  church, 
though  his  wife  and  some  of  the  family  were 
members  of  the  Church,  and  not  only  did 
not  withdraw  but  were  entirely  in  sympathy 
with  the  earnest  young  pastor.  As  months 
passed  by,  and  this  prominent  man  did  not 
return  to  the  congregation,  there  were  some 
who  thought  that  it  might  be  wise  for  the 
young   man   to  own  that  he  had  intruded 


56   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

upon  him,  and  to  seek  to  bring  him  back. 
Mr.  Babcock  declined  to  do  this,  simply  be- 
cause it  would  discredit  the  work  as  a  Chris- 
tian minister,  which  he  came  there  to  do. 
He  had  entire  faith  that  God  would  take 
care  of  this  matter,  and  that  He  would  bring 
it  around  all  right  in  time.  A  half  year 
passed  away.  One  Sunday  after  Mr.  Bab- 
cock had  returned  to  the  manse  from  the 
morning  service,  he  saw  this  man  walking  up 
and  down,  nervously,  in  front  of  the  gate. 
Finally,  he  opened  it,  and  with  rapid  step 
pressed  to  the  door,  and  rang  the  bell.  Mr. 
Babcock  answered  it  himself,  and  ushered 
him  into  the  privacy  of  the  study.  There, 
the  troubled  man  at  once  apologized  for  the 
rude  way  he  had  treated  his  pastor,  owned 
that  he  had  done  what  was  just  right,  and 
acknowledged  that  he,  his  parishioner,  had 
been  all  wrong,  and  that  he  had  not  had  a 
happy  day  since  then.  He  expressed  a  de- 
sire to  be  a  Christian,  and  asked  Mr.  Bab- 
cock to  pray  for  and  with  him.     Then  he 


Lockport  ^y 

said,  after  prayer,  "  I  want  you  to  go  with 
me  to  my  house,  where  I  wish  to  have  it 
understood  that  I  reinstate  you  as  my 
pastor.  I  would  hke  to  have  you  offer 
prayer  there ;  and  if  the  way  be  clear  I  wish 
to  confess  my  faith  in  Christ  at  the  next 
communion."  I  give  this  case  in  full,  that 
his  fidelity  in  his  early  ministry  and  his 
method  of  dealing  with  men  may  be  clearly 
illustrated. 

It  was.  while  he  was  in  this  pastorate  that 
he  sought  and  won  the  hand  of  Miss  Kath- 
arine Tallman,  the  daughter  of  Judge  Tall- 
man  of  Poughkeepsie,  thus  forming  a  union 
in  marriage,  singularly  close  and  beautiful, 
and  blessed  to  the  end,  through  the  unusual 
combination  of  joy  and  sorrow ;  and  few 
ever  suffered  more  and  few  ever  enjoyed 
more  in  their  united  Hves. 

His  first  illness,  a  very  serious  case  of 
nervous  prostration,  and  his  only  one  until 
the  last,  the  fatal  Mediterranean  fever,  at 
Naples,   and  separated  from  that  by  nearly 


58   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

sixteen  years  of  perfect  health  intervening, 
was  in  the  third  year  of  this  pastorate. 

That  illness  involved  six  months  of  great 
anxiety  for  his  people,  his  friends  and  his 
family.  Four  weeks  of  that  time,  just  pre- 
vious to  his  removal  to  the  care  of  Dr. 
Jackson,  he  spent  at  our  house,  the  manse  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Rochester,  N. 
Y.,  where,  what  little  I  could  do  for  him,  in 
direct  personal  care,  seemed  peculiarly  grate- 
ful to  him.  It  will  hardly  be  thought  strange 
that  then,  we  were  more  closely  knit  together 
than  ever,  and  that  a  brooding  paternal  love, 
always  felt  for  him,  deepened  and  rooted 
through  that  experience.  May  this  inade- 
quate tribute  to  his  memory  be  regarded  as 
the  outgrowth  from  that  root. 

It  was  a  year  of  great  trials.  His  own 
serious  illness,  the  loss  of  their  httle  child  at 
birth,  his  wife's  loss  of  health,  never  com- 
pletely restored ;  the  death  of  her  mother  and 
grandmother,  two  very  interesting  and  beau- 
tiful women,  and  objects  of  the  tenderest  af- 


Lockport  5  9 

fection,  all  compressed  within  the  limits  of 
that  year,  made  it  one  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. 

In  seven  months  Mr.  Babcock  was  com- 
pletely restored,  as  the  result  of  the  success- 
ful treatment  at  the  Jackson  Health  Resort, 
Dansville,  N.  Y.  But  the  trials  showed  their 
influence,  through  God's  grace,  in  deepened 
religious  life,  heightened  spirituality  and  in 
broadened  affections.  Before  that  time  he 
had  been  indifferent  almost,  except  to  his 
very  nearest,  to  the  expression  of  his  really 
affectionate  nature.  In  his  early  life,  his 
society  and  college  friends  opening  their 
hearts  to  him,  as  they  always  did,  sometimes 
almost  passionately  charged  him  with  not 
loving  them  as  they  loved  him,  which  is  often 
the  experience  of  leaders  in  college.  The 
fact  was  that  he  was  never  willing  to  be  tied 
to  any  one  person,  except  in  his  home,  where 
his  love  was  complete.  He  chummed  all  his 
friends,  not  one  alone.  But  from  that  ex- 
perience, he  grew  rapidly  in  the  power,  I  may 


6o  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

say  purpose  to  express,  in  a  fine  and  manly 
way,  most  attractive  to  those  whom  he  loved, 
and  who  loved  him,  the  great  deeps  of  affec- 
tion in  his  soul.  This  was  the  only  time  he 
had  ever  been  ill,  until  the  Mediterranean 
fever ;  so  absolutely  robust  had  he  ever 
been,  so  perfect  his  health,  that  his  friends 
heard  with  incredulity  of  his  illness.  It 
was  impossible  to  associate  anything  of  the 
kind  with  him.  He  realized  after  that,  prob- 
ably better  than  any  one  else,  the  necessity 
of  taking  the  most  intelligent  care  of  his 
health;  for  while  he  seemed  fresher,  and 
more  physically  alert  than  ever,  he  took  the 
greatest  pains  to  keep  his  body  in  the 
best  possible  condition.  He  was  there- 
fore consistent  and  conscientious  in  tak- 
ing his  vacations,  and  in  making  the  most  of 
them.  Those  who  were  permitted  to  be  his 
companions,  at  such  times,  recall  them  as 
among  the  most  charming  and  delightful  out- 
ings of  their  lives.  Music,  fishing,  sailing, 
driving,  private  dramatics,  droll  charades,  golf, 


Lockport  6 1 

tennis,  unique  rollicking  entertainments,  and 
roaring  fun,  were  all  surrounded  with  and  il- 
lumined by  an  all  pervading  Christian  spirit, 
which  made  the  passage  from  the  greatest 
fun  to  evening  prayers  as  natural  and  as  un- 
forced as  possible. 

It  was  while  he  was  at  Lockport,  that  he 
came  to  a  clear  idea  of  what  his  vacations 
should  be.  He  was  very  fond  of  the  sea. 
But  the  average  seashore  hotel  had  no  attrac- 
tions for  him.  With  a  few  chosen  friends, 
he  and  his  wife  hired  a  plain,  quiet  farm- 
house at  Duxbury,  near  Plymouth,  Mass., 
engaging  the  owner  of  the  house  and  his 
wife  to  take  care  of  them.  This  they  held 
for  a  number  of  summers,  until  he  bought 
land  at  Wiano,  on  the  south  shore  of  Cape 
Cod,  where  he  built  a  very  pretty  cottage. 
Duxbury  was  the  centre  of  a  unique  vaca- 
tion life.  There  was  not  a  thing  connected 
with  living  on  the  seashore,  which  he  did  not 
master;  that  was  his  way.  He  could  not 
content   himself   without   knowing  all   that 


62   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

there  was  to  be  known  of  the  region,  wher- 
ever he  was.  He  could  sail  a  boat  as  well  as 
a  skipper.  He  became  a  skilled  fisherman. 
He  learned  the  habits  of  the  different  kinds 
of  fish.  He  became  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  history  of  that  region.  The  salient 
points  of  character  in  the  fisherman  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,  and  of  Cape  Cod  he  thor- 
oughly appreciated  and  enjoyed ;  he  was  hail 
fellow  with  them  all.  He  and  those  with 
him,  regularly  attended  and  contributed  to 
the  little  church.  He  did  not  take  his  parish 
cares  with  him,  but  he  was  as  intensely  and 
as  joyously  a  Christian,  in  all  his  summer 
outings  as  at  home.  And  at  night  after 
games  and  frolics,  that  flashed  and  scintillated 
with  wit  that  cannot  be  recalled  now,  so 
subtle  and  constant,  the  evening  prayers, 
reverent  and  tender,  more  unique  even  than 
those  of  Robert  Stevenson — pulsating  with 
the  joy  of  life,  were  something  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

It  was   in   these  vacations  that  he   gave 


Lockport  63 

loose  rein  to  his  dramatic  talent.  No  one 
could  listen  to  his  preaching,  with  his  uncon- 
ventional way  of  stating  truth,  without  notic- 
ing that  vivid  dramatic  gift  of  his,  all  uncon- 
sciously used.  But  in  his  vacation,  sur- 
rounded by  trusted  friends,  he  gave  free  play 
to  this  native  talent  in  charades,  and  humor- 
ous recitations,  and  the  telling  of  dialect 
stories  in  an  inimitable  way.  There  is  a 
photograph  which  caught  him  and  his  party 
in  the  droll  representation  of  various  kinds 
of  invalids,  with  him  as  the  country  doctor. 
He  is  not,  in  that  picture,  Maltbie  Babcock, 
at  all.  He  is  the  other  man ;  he  is  merged 
wholly  into  the  character  of  the  absorbed, 
kind,  and  faithful  country  practitioner.  He 
is  dear  old  "  Weelum  McClure,"  save  that 
Ian  Maclaren's  delightful  creation  of  that 
character  came  afterwards.  He  never  at- 
tempted the  type  of  minister  which  Dickens 
so  caustically  delineated — if  the  reality  ever 
existed,  for  he  loathed  it,  and  turned  away 
from  it,  to  the  representation  of  those  carica- 


64  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

tures  among  the  Germans,  Irishmen,  French- 
men, or  backwoodsman,  which,  while  most 
amusing,  presented  inherent,  sturdy,  manly 
qualities.  When  he  went  back  to  the  "  Pat  " 
of  his  early  farm  experience,  he  was  no 
longer  the  lithe,  graceful,  beaming  faced 
Maltbie  Babcock ;  he  was  instead,  in  face, 
figure  and  tone  of  voice  Pat,  just  Pat.  At 
the  right  time  and  in  the  right  place  he 
dearly  loved  a  good  story ;  and  many  a  time, 
my  first  greeting  on  entering  his  house,  was 
his  ringing  cheery  voice  from  the  hall  above, 
"  Uncle  Charlie,  I  have  a  new  story  for  you." 
In  one  sense,  it  was  this  dramatic  power  that 
made  him  such  an  excellent  musician,  or 
artist,  or  shoemaker,  or  carpenter,  fisherman 
or  sailor,  whatever  he  undertook. 

In  later  years,  while  at  Baltimore,  he  was 
accustomed,  after  the  hard  strain  of  the  win- 
ter's work,  and  before  the  pressing  demands 
which  the  month  of  June  always  makes  upon 
the  city  pastor,  to  go  to  Florida,  for  two 
weeks  of  tarpon  fishing,  a  great  fish  to  be 


Lockport  65 

found  only  in  those  southern  waters,  hard 
to  catch,  and  very  gamy.  To  haul  one  in, 
and  safely  land  him,  required  the  utmost 
skill,  patience  and  strength.  The  effort,  after 
hooking  him,  is  full  of  excitement,  and  suc- 
cess arouses  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Dr. 
Babcock  became  a  successful  and  noted  tar- 
pon fisher.  He  was  while  there,  a  tarpon 
fisherman;  on  his  boat  everything  in  plan, 
talk  and  work  turned  towards  tarpon.  He 
was  dressed  for  his  calling.  One  would  not 
dream,  who  did  not  know  him  elsewhere, 
that  he  was  the  thorough  musician,  the 
charming  man  of  society,  the  platform  de- 
fender of  great  causes,  the  distinguished 
preacher  of  Baltimore.  He  was  bound  to 
catch  that  tarpon ;  he  studied  his  ways ;  he 
learned  his  moods  ;  he  took  advantage  of 
his  tricks  and  landed  him  !  The  fishermen 
of  Florida  bays  and  inlets  never  forgot  him, 
and  constantly  quoted  him. 

In    his   study   at   Baltimore,  there   hung 
upon  the  walls,  a  half  of  a  huge  tarpon,  cut 


66  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

lengthwise,  properly  prepared  and  mounted 
on  a  cedar  slab,  a  trophy  of  one  day's  suc- 
cessful fishing,  its  silver  scales  as  brilliant  as 
if  burnished  metal.  If  his  letters  to  the 
Baltimore  papers  on  this  sport,  and  describ- 
ing his  "  catches,"  and  the  general  experi- 
ence of  fishing  in  Southern  waters  could  be 
gathered  and  published,  they  would  form  a 
volume  which  would  be  well-nigh  as  popular 
as  anything  of  his  now  printed. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  he  took  his  first 
tour  abroad,  accompanied  by  his  devoted 
wife  and  a  few  intimate  friends.  It  was  a 
golden  summer  of  delight  wherever  they 
went.  His  letters  written  en  route  to  his 
people  in  Baltimore  and  printed  in  their 
church  paper.  The  Brown  Memorial  Monthly ^ 
reflect  his  discernment,  his  mental  grasp,  his 
felicity  of  expression,  his  understanding  of 
the  heart  of  things,  and  his  ever  present  con- 
sciousness of  the  heavenly  horizon  to  such 
a  degree,  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they 
too,  like  his  last  letters  from  abroad  while 


Lockport  67 

with  the  Auburn  Seminary  party,  to  his  Men's 
society  of  the  Brick  Church,  New  York,  may 
be  put  in  permanent  literary  form.  They 
deserve  such  preservation.  He  had  an  in- 
satiable desire  to  get  to  the  core  of  every- 
thing. On  shipboard,  he  went  everywhere. 
Any  suffering  passenger,  in  second  cabin  or 
steerage,  he  helped  and  comforted.  He  got 
acquainted  with  the  engineers,  even  the 
stokers  looked  for  his  coming  with  an  ap- 
preciative smile.  It  was  this  same  dramatic 
or  imitative  talent  of  his  that  enabled  him  to 
make  the  most  of  his  German  and  French. 
What  little  he  had  of  those  languages  was 
through  the  college  instruction  in  modern 
languages  of  years  ago  ;  and  college  French 
and  German  does  not  take  one  very  far  into 
the  intricacies  of  conversation.  But  he  util- 
ized his  few  phrases  and  idioms,  to  an  aston- 
ishing degree  ;  a  word,  a  phrase  with  a  shrug 
of  the  shoulders,  a  characteristic  turn  of  the 
head,  seemed  to  take  him  a  good  way,  in 
making  him  understood,  to  the  homesick  sec- 


68   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ond  cabin  or  steerage  passenger,  who  looked 
for  his  coming  with  longing,  and  hailed  him 
with  delight.  It  was  in  the  same  way  that 
he  went  through  the  Steel  Mills,  and  into 
the  coal  mines,  when  visiting  us  in  Scranton. 
One  of  the  young,  skilled  officials  of  the 
Steel  Mills  conducted  him  through,  and  said, 
afterwards,  that  he  took  in  the  whole  system 
with  remarkable  celerity  and  comprehension 
of  mechanic  law,  and  put  himself  in  friend- 
liest accord  with  the  men.  The  next  day  he 
invited  a  member  of  my  family  to  go  with 
him  through  the  mills,  and  explained  the 
whole  process  as  clearly  as  if  he  had  been  to 
the  manner  born,  while  in  every  shop  the 
men  greeted  him  as  an  old  friend,  so  quickly 
had  he  the  day  before  established  a  basis  of 
comradeship  with  them. 

It  was  the  experiences  of  that  third  year 
in  his  first  pastorate,  which  caused  his  people 
of  Lockport,  who  appreciated  and  loved  him 
more  than  ever  to  see  that  it  would  not  be 
wise    to   insist   upon   his   remaining   there. 


Lockport  69 

They  agreed  with  all  his  other  friends  that 
the  call  which  came  from  the  Brown  Me- 
morial Church  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  1887 
was  of  the  Lord's  directing. 


V 

BALTIMORE 


I  press  towards  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. ^^ — Paul. 

0  Lord  I  pray 
That  for  this  day 

1  may  not  swerve 
By  foot  or  hand 
From  Thy  command. 

Not  to  be  servedy  but  to  serve. 

This  too  I  pray 
That  for  this  day 
No  love  of  ease 
Nor  pride  prevent 
My  good  intent 
Not  to  be  pleased,  but  to  please. 

And  if  I  may 
Vd  have  this  day 
Strength  from  above 
To  set  my  heart 
In  heavenly  art 
Not  to  be  lovedy  but  to  love. 

— M.  D.  B. 


BALTIMORE 

NOW  in  the  second  parish,  with 
the  results  of  his  systematic  and 
thorough  study,  with  deep  expe- 
rience in  sorrow,  with  his  rapidly  developing 
gifts,  and  greatly  increased  powers,  he  en- 
tered at  once  upon  a  career  of  usefulness  and 
influence  through  fourteen  years  of  service, 
in  every  way  remarkable. 

Here  his  poetical  gift  was  awakened.  He 
had  read  largely  in  the  seminary,  and  in  his 
first  parish,  in  the  best  poetry.  He  specially 
delighted  at  this  period  in  Wordsworth,  later 
he  was  devoted  to  Tennyson,  and  during  the 
long  horseback  rides  of  his  journey  in  the 
Holy  Land,  just  before  the  end,  he  learned 
"  In  Memoriam  "  by  heart.  Nearly  all  his 
poems,  which  are  in  the  Memorial  volume, 
"  Thoughts  for  every-day  living,"  were 
73 


74  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

written  in  Baltimore.  Here  also  he  put 
forth  his  first  musical  compositions,  which 
attracted  marked  attention,  and  were  re- 
garded, under  the  circumstances,  as  quite 
wonderful.  A  year  and  a  half  after  his 
death,  the  organist  of  the  Brick  Church, 
New  York,  who  had  followed  Dr.  Babcock 
from  Baltimore,  gave  an  organ  recital  to  the 
special  musical  friends  of  Dr.  Babcock,  in 
which  only  his  compositions  were  played. 
Here,  in  this  parish  was  more  clearly  re- 
vealed than  ever  before,  his  power  over 
young  men.  It  was  a  power  indeed,  a  pas- 
sion with  him  which  fairly  dominated  him. 
The  Johns  Hopkins  University  afforded 
him  a  great  field  for  the  exercise  of  this 
power.  A  room  was  set  apart  for  his  use. 
Special  hours  were  appointed  for  his  recep- 
tion of  students.  It  became,  in  a  good 
sense,  like  a  confessional.  It  was  the 
waking  of  many  men  to  a  new  hfe.  They 
flocked  about  him,  they  followed  him.  He 
visited  The  Hill  School  at  Pottstown  every 


Baltimore  75 

other  month,  Robert  Speer  going  the 
alternate  months.  The  opportunity  there 
afforded  him  for  preaching  and  influencing 
boys,  at  the  most  impressionable  age,  was 
greatly  appreciated  by  him,  and  responded 
to  by  them.  Hundreds  of  them  were  lifted 
up  to  nobler  ideals  and  nearer  the  Christ,  by 
him.  He  went  again  and  again  to  Yale, 
Princeton,  and  Harvard  for  similar  service. 
All  this  will  be  more  fully  described  in  the 
chapter  on  "  His  Work  in  Schools  and 
Colleges." 

There  was  developed  within  him,  while  in 
Baltimore  a  more  intense  desire  than  ever  to 
save  men.  He  seemed  to  feel  to  the  full  the 
immensely  strong  figure  of  Jude's  "  Others 
save  with  fear — pulling  them  out  of  the  fire, 
hating  even  the  garment  spotted  by  the 
flesh."  No  firemen  of  to-day,  trained  to 
daring  feats,  to  save  his  fellow  men  from  the 
flames,  in  most  dangerous  places,  ever  felt 
more  the  exhilaration,  in  the  supreme  mo- 
ment of  rescue,  than  this  man,  on  fire  with  a 


76   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

holy  passion  to  deliver  souls.  He  showed 
peculiar  aptitude  for  personal  work  with 
men.  While,  I  think,  he  never  had  an 
evangelist  in  his  own  church,  it  was  not 
because  he  doubted  the  efficiency  of  good 
ones,  for  he  had  great  sympathy  with,  and 
admiration  for  Mr.  Moody ;  but  because  he 
did  not  need  them.  His  church  was  always 
in  a  quickened  condition.  Although  he  had 
his  own  clearly  chosen  methods  of  work,  he 
never  claimed  that  they  were  the  only  ones. 
He  rejoiced  in  the  success  of  those  who 
worked  on  different  lines  from  his  own.  All 
modes  of  reaching  men,  such  as  Salvation 
Army  work,  Rescue  Missions,  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  or  Young  Women's, 
and  Christian  Endeavour  Societies  enlisted 
his  hearty  sympathy.  He  was  a  very  popu- 
lar delegate  to  great  Christian  Endeavour 
Conventions.  His  presence,  specially  at 
Cleveland,  and  at  London,  England,  where 
he  went  simply  to  be  a  delegate,  made  a 
deep  impression.     There  are  those  who  can 


Baltimore  77 

never  forget  their  association  with  him  at 
such  times,  particularly  on  the  steamer,  on 
the  way  to  the  World's  London  Convention. 
There  never  was  any  Union  movement  in 
Baltimore  for  the  deepening  and  broadening 
of  the  religious  life,  and  the  increase  of  its 
effectiveness,  in  which  he  was  not  one  of 
the  inspiring  leaders.  A  unique  Christian 
worker,  Mr.  Todd  Hall,  the  Baltimore 
detective,  was  once  in  Scranton  addressing 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  on 
a  Sunday  afternoon,  at  the  Lyceum  Theatre. 
When  it  was  announced  that  Dr.  Babcock 
would  address  them,  on  the  next  Sabbath, 
Mr.  Hall,  moved  irresistibly,  cried  out,  "  Oh, 
I  say,  fellows,  he's  a  daisy."  He  became 
one  of  the  most  prominent  religious  leaders 
in  all  that  region.  He  was  looked  upon  as 
a  special  feature  of  Baltimore.  The  entire 
city,  of  all  denominations  and  associations 
held  him  with  mingled  pride  and  love.  The 
Rev.  Henry  W.  Luce,  from  my  charge  in 
Scranton,  and   now  for  a  number  of   years 


78   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

supported  by  that  church  as  a  missionary  in 
the  Shantung  Province,  China,  wrote  of  Dr. 
Babcock  recently — "  I  was  so  interested  in 
the  book  of  his  letters  from  Palestine  to  the 
Men's  Association  of  the  Brick  Church,  that 
I  could  hardly  lay  it  down  until  I  finished  it — 
you  may  remember  that  you  once  gave  me 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  him.  I  found  him 
at  his  home  in  Baltimore.  I  think  that  I 
never  spent  a  few  hours  in  any  one's  pres- 
ence, whose  influence  left  such  a  clear  and 
abiding  impression  upon  me.  The  music, 
the  conversation,  and  above  all  the  spirit  of 
the  man  still  abide  in  my  heart.  I  sat  down 
at  his  desk  and  the  *  Do  it  now '  motto,  which 
he  had  written  and  pasted  on  the  rim  of  his 
desk  cover,  has  often  been  a  reminder  to 
promptness.  And  above  all,  was  his  frank- 
ness, and  his  power  to  make  you  feel  it.  So 
God  blesses  the  earth  with  His  children." 

He  had  no  one  method  of  reaching  people, 
but  perhaps  no  one  ever  used  his  pen  more 
effectively   than   he,  for   this   purpose.     He 


Baltimore  79 

wrote  many  letters  daily  to  different  mem- 
bers of  his  parish,  about  their  spiritual  needs, 
but  in  no  stereotyped  manner.  Each  note 
was  sui  generis,  pervaded  with  his  strong, 
cheery  religious  life,  and  marked  by  his  easy, 
attractive  style.  There  was  not  a  member  of 
his  congregation,  but  what  was  aware  of  his 
personal  interest  in  him,  and  affected  by  it. 
As  a  result  of  this  faithful  work,  there  were 
constant  additions  to  his  church.  After  his 
death  it  was  wonderful,  except  to  those  who 
knew  his  real  Hfe,  to  find  how  many  people 
whom  society,  so  called,  and  the  great  world 
knew  not,  held  him  as  their  dearest  friend. 
As  Ian  Maclaren  refers  to  the  other  persons, 
than  the  twelve  "  who  emerge  like  pictures 
from  the  shadow  in  the  gallery,  like  unad- 
dressed  letters  in  a  biography,  like  initials  in 
a  diary — they  are  persons  of  whom  we  only 
get  glimpses,  or  whose  acquaintance  with 
Jesus  is  barely  mentioned.  There  is  this  un- 
known, whom  we  can  only  call  *  the  goodman 
of  the  house,'  who  rivalled  Joseph  of  Ari- 


8o  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

mathea  in  the  offices  of  friendship — affording 
Him  his  choicest  room  wherein  to  keep  the 
feast."  So  men  and  women  in  the  humblest 
ranks  of  Hfe,  had  cherished  notes  from  Dr. 
Babcock,  brief,  but  characteristic  and  vitaliz- 
ing, which  in  his  delicate  thoughtfulness  he 
had  sent  them ;  or  they  recalled  memorable 
visits,  or  some  spoken  word,  which  will  never 
be  forgotten.  He  would  have  scorned  to 
make  these  expressions  of  interest  and  of  con- 
sideration, to  the  favoured  few  alone.  As  the 
sun  gives  to  each  blade  of  grass  all  it  can  hold 
I  of  his  light  and  heat  and  life,  as  if  it  were  the 
j  only  blade  of  grass,  so  he  had  the  charming 
■  way  of  giving  to  every  one  he  met,  rich  or 
poor,  learned  or  unlearned,  something  of  his 
very  self,  and  at  the  time,  the  very  best  of 
himself.  While  a  man  of  reserves,  and  in 
another  sense  of  reserve,  he  never  held  back 
the  best  or  most  brilliant  thought  that  came 
to  him,  in  conversation,  as  if  it  were  too  good 
or  too  valuable  for  the  time,  and  only  to  be 
used  for  some  great  occasion.     If  some  spe- 


Baltimore  8 1 

daily  select  circle  were  having  him  at  dinner, 
with  a  choice  "  bill  of  company,"  as  well  as 
of  fare,  or  gifted  friends  had  secured  him  for 
some  long  planned  outing,  or  for  some  charm- 
ing drive,  and  supposed  that  they  were  get- 
ting what  was  denied  ordinary  mortals,  they 
were  greatly  mistaken.  He  knew  where  and 
when  that  little  club  of  working  girls,  in  his 
congregation,  took  their  lunch,  or  where 
those  struggling  college  boys  were  boarding 
themselves,  or  where  those  clerks  were  in 
their  small  and  cheerless  hall  bedrooms  of 
dreary  boarding-houses,  and  he  would  drop 
in  on  them,  with  a  way  and  manner  as  at- 
tractive as  when  with  those  who  held  them- 
selves as  forming  the  choicest  circles  of  the 
city,  and  which  they  can  never  forget.  He 
was  the  ideal  friend  of  the  young  man.  One 
of  his  Baltimore  "  boys,"  WilHam  Forman 
Clarke,  paid  a  tribute  to  his  memory  which 
shows  how  the  young  men  of  his  parish  came 
to  regard  him. 

"  How  great  and  powerful  in  the  sight  of 


82   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

God  must  be  the  man,  who  during  so  short 
a  period  of  life  on  this  planet  can  do  so  much 
good.  And  he  above  all  others  was  a  man ! 
His  laugh,  his  gesture,  his  music,  his  preach- 
ing, all  sent  a  warm  flow  through  your  body 
and  soul.  He  was  but  a  man,  and  yet  such 
a  man !  Where  shall  we  find  one  such  as 
he."  Like  the  fabled  man  of  the  bedia- 
monded  coat,  which  dropped  jewels  wherever 
he  walked,  Maltbie  Babcock  gave  his  best  at 
each  time,  frankly,  freely,  joyously.  This 
was  one  of  the  sources  of  his  power  as  a 
pastor.  He  was  truly,  and  not  professionally, 
a  friend  of  every  one  in  his  parish.  Very 
few  men  of  his  age  could  write  to  men  over 
seventy,  as  he  wrote  to  one  who  had  retired 
from  active  life,  to  the  quiet  of  his  last  illness. 
I  quote  from  a  letter  in  the  "  Thoughts  for 
Every-day  Living."  "  It  is  a  comfort  to  look 
back  and  think  what  good  friends  we  have 
been,  and  then  to  make  a  jump  into  the  fu- 
ture, and  know  that  there,  the  real  summer 
season  of  friendship  comes.     I  hope  that  you 


Baltimore  83 

are  fairly  comfortable,  though  I  hardly  dare 
to,  for  it  is  no  joke  letting  go  of  our  tools  as 
they  wear  out.  But  you  are  God's  workman, 
and  some  fine  day,  He  will  give  you  a  new 
kit,  and  set  you  at  tasks,  in  which,  and  of 
which  you  will  never  weary.  I  love  to  think 
of  our  unchanged  friendship,  and  that  though 
we  may  not  be  cronies  on  the  back  piazza,  or 
in  the  garden  much  more,  if  any  more  in  this 
world,  we  shall  be  in  Paradise,  which  after 
all,  is  God's  garden — with  no  serpent."  To 
another,  whose  little  child  had  died  he  sent 
a  most  comforting  letter,  in  which  were  these 
words  :  "  Always  think  of  me  as  your  friend, 
and  take  advantage  of  my  friendship ;  what 
are  we  here  for,  but  to  love  and  help  one 
another  ?  "  He  thought  and  felt  far  into  the 
heart  of  things.  He  had  sacred  intuitions  of 
sorrow.  A  parishioner,  receiving  such  words 
as  these,  would  cherish  them  forever.  "  Per- 
haps the  richest  of  God's  earthly  gifts  is  an 
accepted  sorrow.  Do  not  lose  this  one. 
Accept  it.     Say,  <  Speak,  Lord,  for  Thy  serv- 


84  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ant  heareth/  and  He  will  tell  you  some  things 
worth  all  it  cost  to  hear  them.  I  cannot  say 
what,  but  you  will  know." 

Here,  in  Baltimore,  there  came  to  him, 
also,  a  deeper  and  more  unique  spiritual  life, 
giving  to  his  humour,  his  table-talk,  his  rec- 
reations, his  prayers  and  his  preaching  an 
indescribable  power.  He  knew  where  the 
sources  of  spiritual  life  were,  and  daily  re- 
sorted to  them.  He  slept  soundly  through 
the  night,  like  one  who  made  a  business  of  it, 
and  as  if  to  lie  awake  was  a  neglect  of  a  God- 
given  opportunity  to  "  knit  up  the  ravelled 
sleeve  of  care."  But  he  did  not  waste  the 
morning  hours.  The  hour  before  breakfast, 
after  his  toilet,  was  his  special  hour  to  be 
alone  with  God  and  His  word ;  not  for  study, 
that  he  took  up  later  in  the  morning,  but  for 
worship,  for  communion  and  for  intercessory 
prayer  for  his  large  congregation,  and  for 
special  cases  that  lay  on  his  great  sympathetic 
heart.  It  was  here,  through  this  direct  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  heart  of  God  that  he 


Baltimore  85 

became  charged  for  the  day,  to  give  off,  as 
he  did  constantly  and  joyously,  the  fullness 
of  God,  which  his  Heavenly  Father  imparted 
to  him  so  freely. 

Perhaps  he  evinced  his  gifts  as  clearly  as 
anywhere  in  his  table-talk  or  conversation. 
He  would  press  on  daringly,  eagerly  into 
some  dark  subject,  his  thought  rushing  out 
into  the  darkness  Hke  a  rocket,  and  then  sud- 
denly bursting  into  corruscations,  explosions, 
like  the  supreme  moment  of  the  rocket's 
sweep,  lighting  up  the  darkness,  and  filling 
his  companions  with  wonder  at  his  bold  and 
brilliant  flights  of  fancy.  And  yet  those 
who  were  nearest  to  him  and  who  saw  the 
most  of  him  felt,  I  think,  that  nowhere  did 
the  depth,  breadth  and  power  of  his  nature 
so  reveal  itself  as  in  prayer.  His  prayers 
were  never  the  same.  In  one  way  they  were 
like  the  chameleon  which  takes  its  colour  from 
what  it  feeds  on.  They  reflected  the  en- 
vironment, and  gave  voice  to  the  feeling  and 
spirit    of   the    moment,   wherever   he   was. 


86   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

Whoever  followed  him  then,  whether  friends 
at  the  family  altar,  or  the  great  congregation, 
felt  as  if  they  were  brought  into  the  presence 
of  the  Almighty,  and  near  to  the  heart  of 
God. 

Church  after  church  essayed  to  draw  him 
away  from  Baltimore.  Two  churches  in 
Philadelphia,  three  in  New  York,  one  in 
Washington,  two  in  Chicago,  and  others 
wanted  him,  but  for  all  those  glad,  fruitful 
years,  he  remained  at  his  post,  apparently  im- 
movable. He  sought  no  change.  He  was 
as  far  as  possible  from  putting  himself  in  the 
way  of  calls.     He  tried  to  avoid  them. 

No  one  was  happier,  or  merrier  than  he. 
No  one  drew  more  delight  from  song  of  bird, 
colours  in  nature  and  pencillings  of  leafless 
trees  against  the  sky  than  he. 

"  Now  behold  the  Master's  drawing 
Clear  against  the  cold,  gray  sky ; 
Not  a  trace  of  warmth  or  colour, 
But  fine  feasting  for  the  eye." 

All  the  phenomena  of  natural  life  minis- 


The  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  Baltimore,  Md.,  was 
the  fruit  of  a  most  successful  mission  of  the  Brown  Me- 
morial (church  under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Babcock. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Babcock  its  name  was  changed  to 
"The  Babcock  Memorial  Church.''  its  Church  edifice 
was  erected  by  the  devoted  friends  of  Dr.  Babcock  in  the 
Brown  Memorial  and  Babcock  Memorial  Church  at  the 
cost  of  about  $00,000  and  dedicated  Dec.  i,  1903. 


Baltimore  87 

tered  to  his  joy.  And  no  man  enjoyed  men, 
best  of  all  to  him,  more  than  he.  After  his 
death,  Robert  Speer,  in  an  article  in  the  June 
number  of  the  Record  of  Christian  Work  of 
that  year,  paid  a  most  exquisite  and  appre- 
ciative tribute  to  these,  as  well  as  to  other 
qualities  of  his  rare  nature. 

His  music  was  a  wide,  deep  channel 
'  through  which  he  poured  the  strong  emotions 
of  his  soul.  Seated  at  his  organ,  with  his 
wife  at  the  piano,  or  the  reverse,  he  revelled 
in  the  grandest  compositions  of  the  great 
masters. 

No  commonplace  music  found  recognition 
there.  He  was  familiar  with  the  best,  the 
noblest  harmonies.  Through  these,  or 
through  his  own  delightful  improvisations, 
he  would  Hterally  "  Pour  out  his  soul  within 
him."  It  was  unquestionably  one  of  his 
modes  of  worship.  His  profile  at  such  times 
bore  an  expression  of  aspiration  pecuHarly 
impressive. 


VI 

HIS  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS  AND 
COLLEGES 


Go 

Right 

On 

Working. 

— M.  D.  B. 

//  //  not  growing  like  a  tree 

In  bulk,  doth  make  man  better  be ; 

Or  standing  long  an  oaky  three  hundred  year. 

To  fall  a  log  at  last,  dry,  bald,  and  sere : 

A  lily  of  a  day 

Is  fairer  far  in  May, 
Although  it  fall  and  die  that  night  — 
//  was  the  plant  and  flower  of  Light. 
In  small  proportions  we  just  beauties  see  ; 
And  in  short  measures  life  may  perfect  be. 

B.  JONSON. 


VI 

HIS  WORK  IN  SCHOOLS  AND 
COLLEGES 

A  SKETCH  is  not  necessarily  a  frag- 
ment, or  a  part  of  an  object.  It 
should  aim  to  present  an  entire  out- 
line. Imagination  delights  to  fill  in  the 
details.  Imperfect  as  this  sketch  must  neces- 
sarily be,  it  would  be  still  more  so  if  there 
were  no  reference  to  Dr.  Babcock's  work 
with  the  students  in  school  and  college. 

University  preachers  are  comparatively 
new  features  in  academic  life,  and  have 
come  to  be  important  factors  in  it.  To  the 
work  of  the  University  chaplain  were  added 
the  visits  of  lay  speakers  and  preachers  dis- 
tinguished for  their  special  gifts  in  influenc- 
ing young  men. 

The  Hill  School  at  Pottstown,  The  Hotch- 
kiss  School  at  Lakeville,  Conn.,  and  Harvard, 
91 


92   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

Yale  and  Princeton  Universities,  among  other 
institutions  of  learning,  have  been  quick  to 
appreciate  and  to  take  advantage  of  this  new 
movement  to  bring  the  ablest  and  most  con- 
secrated Christian  preachers  and  lay  speakers 
in  contact  with  their  students.  In  this  way 
hundreds,  not  to  say  thousands  of  young 
men  have  been  awakened  to  the  life  in 
Christ.  It  was  impossible  that  Dr.  Babcock 
should  be  left  out  of  such  work.  By  "  na- 
ture and  nurture"  he  was  pecuharly  fitted 
for  it.  He  was  not  only  the  boy's  and  the 
young  man's  man,  but  hero;  and  few  men 
ever  influenced  their  lives  so  forcefully  and 
fruitfully  as  he. 

This  sketch  of  him  cannot  therefore  leave 
out  this  important  department  of  his  activity 
as  a  Christian  worker.  But  as  this  was  on 
fields  where  I  had  not  walked  with  him,  and 
desiring  to  secure  some  testimonies  at  first 
hand,  I  have  written  to  The  Hill  School  at 
Pottstown,  Pa.,  and  to  Harvard  and  Yale 
Universities  for  some  direct  impressions  of 


Schools  and  Colleges  93 

his  work  there.     The  long  summer  vacation, 
and  the  consequent  absence  from  the  univer- 
sities of  those  to  whom  I  appHed,  have  pre- 
cluded anything  but  brief  descriptions  from 
that  source.    The  Rev.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes, 
of  Yale,  wrote :   "  I  remember  very  plainly 
Dr.   Babcock's    last   sermon   in   the   college 
chapel  here.     It  was  on  ♦  power.'     He  traced 
the  use  of  the  word  through  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  the  sermon  was  certainly  a  very 
strong  one.     I  happen  to  call  to  mind  two 
remarks  which  I  overheard  as  I  passed  out 
of  the  chapel.     One  student  said, '  That  was 
the    greatest    sermon    I    ever   heard.'     The 
other  replied,  *  Yes,  and  would  he  not  make 
a  great  actor  ? '     Both  were  impressed  with 
the  power  of  the  man,  and  one  called  at- 
tention   to    a   certain   dramatic   element   in 
his  preaching.     It  is  beyond  question  that 
Dr.  Babcock  was  considered  by  the  students 
one  of  the  most  virile,  direct  and  helpful  of 
the  Yale  preachers.     He  was  also  specially 
approachable  by  the   men,  and  he  always 


94   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

was  glad  to  avail  himself  of  any  opportunity 
for  personal  interviews  with  them." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  of  Har- 
vard, wrote :  "  You  ask  me  for  some  remi- 
niscence of  the  impression  made  by  Dr.  Bab- 
cock through  his  preaching  to  students  of 
Harvard  University.  Under  the  system  of 
religious  administration  at  Harvard,  Sunday 
evening  worship  is  led  by  ministers  of  the 
various  communions  and  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  so  that  those  who  are  regular 
attendants  are  likely  to  hear  the  most  com- 
manding voices  of  the  American  pulpit. 
Dr.  Babcock,  in  his  short  career,  preached 
twice  in  our  chapel ;  and  the  response  to  his 
message  on  the  part  of  our  young  men  was 
almost  without  precedent  or  parallel.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  throng  of  youths  who 
crowded  towards  him  at  the  end  of  each 
service  to  express  their  gratitude.  His  accu- 
;  rate  understanding  of  the  habit  of  mind  pre- 
!  vailing  among  educated  youth,  his  entire 
■  freedom  from  professionalism  of  manner  and 


Schools  and  Colleges  95 

material,  his  personal  vigour  and  charm,  all 
combined  to  make  him  singularly  winning ; 
and  he  seemed  to  me  the  ideal  of  what  a 
preacher  to  young  men  should  be.  I  re- 
member also,  as  a  part  of  the  same  impres- 
sion, his  own  expressions,  in  both  instances, 
of  the  peculiar  joy  he  had  in  this  college 
preaching,  and  the  sense  of  unconstrained 
contact  with  young  minds.  He  was  a  most 
unusual  combination  of  the  boyish  and  the 
mature,  the  spontaneous  and  the  reflective, 
the  jubilant  and  the  sympathetic ;  and  these 
varying  moods  penetrated  his  sermons  and 
gave  them  a  peculiar  appeal  to  the  tidal 
Hfe  of  youth.  Many  young  men  who  thus 
listened  to  him  at  our  university  will,  I  be- 
lieve, date  not  only  their  keenest  impressions 
of  reHgious  truth  but  their  confidence  of  the  ; 
reality  and  simplicity  of  religion  from  the  < 
Sunday  evenings  with  him  in  Appleton  j 
chapel." 

Dr.   John    Meigs,   principal   of  The   Hill 
School,  Pottstown,  Pa.,  where  Dr.  Babcock 


96   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

went  on  alternate  months  with  Robert  E. 
Speer,  for  several  years,  gave  me  the  follow- 
ing exceedingly  interesting  account  of  his 
work  in  that  institution :  *•  Of  no  man  can 
Paul's  words,  •'  All  things  to  all  men,'  be  more 
aptly  used  than  of  Maltbie  Babcock.  It  was 
true  of  him  by  reason  of  the  force  of  his 
own  nature,  but  more  true  because  of  that 
law  which  he  himself  characterized  as  •  Nature 
plus  Nurture.'  It  was  profoundly  true  be- 
cause of  the  diversity  and  richness  of  his 
gifts,  which  betrayed  the  lover  of  Nature, 
*  the  living  garment  of  God,'  and  of  all  forms 
of  physical  activity,  as  well  as  the  poet,  musi- 
cian and  artist.  He  was  all  these  by  nature ; 
but  how  much  more  by  nurture ! 

"  These  gifts  were  combined  in  a  radiant, 
magnetic  personality  that  defies  analysis. 
His  employment  of  his  rare  powers  seems 
even  more  marvellous  than  their  possession. 

"  Self-effacement,  that  the  face  of  Christ 
might  more  truly  appear  in  his  life,  was  the 
law  of  his  service.     Necessarily  conscious  of 


Schools  and  Colleges  97 

power,  to  him  it  was  the  power  of  God  work- 
ing in  and  through  him ;  delighting  in  the 
exercise  of  his  gifts,  he  seemed  ahve  only  to 
the  sense  of  the  goodness  of  God  who  made 
him  a  servant  for  Jesus'  sake.  And  yet,  con- 
tradictory as  it  may  appear,  the  kindling, 
quickening  radiancy  and  joyousness  of  his 
speech  and  countenance  might  easily  have 
suggested,  to  those  who  knew  him  not,  the 
very  *  abandon'  of  self-confidence,  while 
those  who  really  knew  his  soul  found  ever 
in  this  only  the  irrepressible  joy  of  one  who 
knew  in  whom  he  had  believed,  and  was, 
therefore,  confident. 

"  In  no  field  of  work  did  he  make  more 
distinctive  use  of  his  many  and  varied  gifts 
than  in  his  intercourse  with  boys  and  young 
men.  His  intense  vitality  and  enthusiasm 
kept  him  ever  young.  His  power  of  imagi- 
nation instantly  grasped  their  point  of  view 
and  enabled  him  to  put  himself  in  their 
places ;  to  think  their  thoughts  after  them ; 
to  enjoy  their  sports,  to  feel  their  struggles, 


98   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

to  know  their  temptations.  There  was  no 
professional  '  tang '  about  him ;  no  peculi- 
arity of  manner  or  idiosyncrasy  of  personality 
to  baffk  or  repel,  but,  from  the  first  instant 
of  meeting,  there  was  everything  in  manner 
and  form  and  speech  to  attract  and  charm 
the  young.  Boys  forgot  their  shyness  and 
reticence  before  this  minister  of  grace,  whose 
habits  indicated  the  man,  whose  habiliments 
revealed  the  gentleman,  and,  instinctively, 
gave  him  the  freedom  of  the  city,  of  their 
hearts  and  minds. 

"  He  sometimes  visited  schools  and  preached 
to  the  boys  who,  from  year  to  year,  eagerly 
looked  for  his  return.  We  can  see  him 
seated,  for  the  first  time,  at  a  table  with  a 
group  of  young  fellows.  Expecting  to  see 
a  typical  clergyman  they  look  at  him  critic- 
ally and  find  nothing  characteristic  of  ♦  the 
cloth.'  He  opens  conversation  with  some 
casual,  friendly  remark,  and  in  the  common 
courtesies  of  the  table  indulges  in  pleasant- 
ries, tells  an  interesting  story,  makes  them 


Schools  and  Colleges  99 

forget  themselves,  and  has  them  spellbound 
before  five  minutes  have  passed.  One  story- 
after  another  is  told,  each  one  more  interest- 
ing than  the  last,  until  the  boys  at  other 
tables  look  around  to  observe  and  share  the 
merriment.  But  it  is  not  all  fun.  As  nat- 
urally and  spontaneously  as  he  has  narrated 
the  amusing  anecdote  does  he  gUde  into  the 
recital  of  some  strong,  stirring  incident  of 
human  hfe  (alluding,  perhaps,  to  its  Christ- 
ward  side),  as  one  might  speak  of  an  event 
of  moment  to  any  other  dear,  intimate  friend. 
The  young  boy  feels  no  self-consciousness, 
no  embarrassment,  no  recoil,  as  if  he  were 
being  forced  into  the  courts  of  heaven  *  vi  et 
armis,'  but  tingles  with  glad  surprise  to  find  \ 
new  and  obvious  connection  between  human 
and  divine  Hfe. 

"  Once,  in  giving  an  account  of  his  expe- 
rience with  a  black  leopard  in  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes  in  Paris,  and  of  how  nearly  he  lost 
his  arm  by  his  impulsive  kindness  in  feeding 
the  dangerous  brute,  he  described  the  treat- 


loo   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ment  he  underwent  at  the  surgeon's  hands. 
As  he  showed  the  scar  on  his  hand  where 
the  leopard's  claw  had  caught  him,  he  swiftly 
turned  the  conversation  from  the  exciting 
channel  of  adventure  into  the  serious  one  of 
application,  and,  in  effect,  preached  a  little 
sermon  to  those  boys  that  will  long  be  re- 
membered by  his  hearers.  He  was  like  his 
Master,  who  ever  preached  from  the  common 
events  of  life,  and  took  the  flower  in  the  field, 
the  bird  in  the  air,  the  cloud  in  the  sky,  the 
seed  in  the  ground  for  His  texts. 

''  On  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  the 
school  he  arrived  in  time  for  evening  prayers, 
Saturday  night.  After  the  brief  service  he 
stood  for  almost  an  hour  before  the  boys 
and  told  them  of  a  recent  fishing  trip  for 
tarpon.  As  interesting  as  his  vivid  portrayal 
of  his  exciting  experience  in  landing  the  fish 
was  the  sight  of  those  boys  listening  with 
eager  faces,  some  with  open  mouths,  to  that 
wonderful  narrator.  With  what  power  and 
dramatic  art  he  told  that  story !     Those  who 


Schools  and  Colleges        loi 

listened  felt  as  if  they  too  were  struggling 
with  the  great  fish,  as  with  the  perfect  imita- 
tion of  a  man  with  the  rod  in  his  hand  he 
described  how  he  played  with  ito  One  saw 
by  the  intense  expression  of  his  face  that  he 
was  living  over  the  experience  again  in  im- 
agination; and,  as  he  narrated  it,  he  por- 
trayed the  whole  scene  before  his  audience. 
As  he  moved  from  side  to  side,  one  could  see 
the  fellows  involuntarily  move,  too.  They 
would  not  lose  sight  of  a  gesture  or  an  ex- 
pression of  his  mobile  countenance.  Was  it 
any  wonder  that  a  man  so  in  touch  with 
the  things  most  dear  to  boys'  hearts  should, 
on  the  following  morning,  hold  them  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand,  as  he  preached  to  them 
on  the  great  theme  of  '  Overcoming '  ?  He 
baited  their  attention,  drew  them  to  him, 
and,  literally,  fished  for  them  as  he  had  for 
the  tarpon,  and  caught  them  as  he  had 
the  fish, — always  supremely  and  tirelessly  a 
*  fisher  of  men.' 

"  One  of  the  secrets  of  his  power  in  preach- 


I02   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ing  to  boys  and  young  men  was  that  very 
dramatic  instinct  which  made  him,  all  un- 
consciously to  himself,  portray,  by  gesture 
and  expression  as  well  as  word,  the  thoughts 
of  his  mind.  Once  in  preaching  of  the  two 
men  in  the  Bible,  one  of  whom  said  •  I  go ' 
but  went  not,  and  the  other  of  whom  said 
*  I  go  not '  but  went,  he  gave,  as  a  picture  of 
the  man  who  was  quick  and  ready  with  his 
words,  the  formal  salutation.  Putting  his 
heels  together  and  straightening  himself  up, 
he  said  in  quick  military  fashion,  as  he  saluted 
with  his  hands  to  his  forehead,  *  Aye,  aye, 
sir,'  and  then  went  on  to  describe  the  boy 
always  quick  to  assent  but  impotent  to  do. 

"  Maltbie  Babcock  used  his  singular  gift 
of  word-painting  and  dramatic  recital  to  reach 
the  naive  mind  of  youth,  who  understand  the 
concrete  but  are  often  repelled  by  the  ab- 
i  stract.  Always  assuming,  or  assuring  them 
of  the  sonship  of  his  youthful  hearers  to  the 
Father,  he  never  preached  in  theological  or 
doctrinal   terms.     His   theme  was  life,  and 


Schools  and  Colleges        103 

life  controlled  and  guided  by  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  only  life  worth  living.  He  made  straight- 
forward appeals  to  the  hardihood  and  man- 
hood of  young  men.  He  made  them  feel 
the  glory  of  strife  and  struggle,  the  impo- 
tence and  ugliness  of  sin,  and  the  misery  of 
an  invertebrate  life  and  character.  His  was 
the  red-blooded,  robust  gospel,  the  over- 
coming and  conquering  hfe.  *  It  made  brutes 
men,  and  men  divine.' 

"  Two  weeks  before  sailing  on  his  own 
last  voyage  he  preached  in  the  school  from 
the  text  *  There  go  the  ships.'  His  words 
bore  largely  upon  three  lines  of  thought — 
the  port,  the  cargo,  and  the  pilot.  Who 
that  heard  him  that  night  will  ever  forget 
his  description  of  each  man  standing  at  the 
wheel  of  his  life,  of  the  different  pilots  of 
ambition  and  lust,  selfishness  and  dishonesty, 
cowardice  and  hypocrisy,  who  came  up  to 
ask  for  a  turn  at  the  wheel,  and  his  earnest 
appeal  to  those  young  lads,  just  starting  out 
upon  the  voyage  of  life,  to  let  Jesus  Christ, 


I04  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

the  true  pilot,  the  only  one  who  knows  each 
rock  and  reef  and  peril  of  the  voyage,  take 
the  wheel  of  their  lives. 

"He  did  not  yield  to  the  temptation  to 
preach  only  to  the  multitude,  ignoring  the 
individual.  He  was  as  willing  to  take  time 
to  listen,  in  private,  to  the  recital  of  his 
temptations  by  some  weak,  wayward  boy,  or 
of  his  intellectual  difficulties  by  some  thought- 
ful and  sincere  lad,  as  he  was  to  walk  the 
streets  of  the  great  city  with  some  despairing 
man  in  the  last  throes  of  a  struggle  for  self- 
mastery,  past  midnight  and  on  into  the  early 
morning  hours  of  dawning  light  and  triumph. 

"  Great  as  was  his  power  as  a  preacher, 
greater  was  his  influence  as  a  friend  in  mould- 
ing the  lives  and  characters  of  the  youths  who 
knew  him,  by  reason  of  his  own  elevated  and 
consistent  practice.  His  standards  of  con- 
duct for  himself  were  most  rigorous,  his 
generosity  and  charity  to  others  were  well 
nigh  boundless.  Not  a  few  great  preachers, 
seen    under   the  searchlight  of  daily  inter- 


Schools  and  Colleges        105 

course,  lessen  or  lose  their  influence  because 
of  reservations  and  discrepancies  between 
dictum  and  deed.  Not  so  with  Maltbie 
Babcock.  While  he  won  his  young  hearers 
by  his  gifts  and  ideal  personality,  and  held 
them  with  his  strong  and  direct  preaching, 
he  fashioned  and  formed  them  through  his 
noble  and  flawless  daily  life." 


"  Keep  but  God's  model  safe  — 
New  men  will  rise  to  take  its  mould." 


This  chapter  would  not  be  complete  with- 
out this  contribution  from  Mr.  Robert  E. 
Speer,  who  not  only  knew  Dr.  Babcock  very 
well,  but  is  himself  also  one  of  the  foremost 
of  successful  workers  among  boys  and  young 
men  in  schools  and  colleges. 

"  I  think  Dr.  Babcock  died  on  the  thresh- 
old of  his  work  for  young  men,  especially 
for  students.  From  his  pastorate  in  Balti- 
more, aside  from  his  remarkable  work  in 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  he  had  gone  out 
a  little  to  the  colleges  and  universities ;  but 


io6   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

he  was  just  coming  into  a  larger  activity  in 
this  sphere  from  his  pastorate  in  New  York 
when  he  passed  on.  And  yet  he  had  already 
done  a  great  deal.  In  half  a  dozen  colleges 
and  schools  he  was  known  and  loved,  and 
his  visits  were  looked  for  with  eager  expec- 
tation. In  some  of  these,  his  first  visits  had 
swept  all  barriers  away,  and  given  him  a 
place  of  fullest  admiration  and  regard  in  the 
hearts  of  the  young  men.  In  one,  at  least, 
his  unconventional,  fresh  style  was  a  little 
starthng,  but  on  his  second  visit,  he  won  his 
way,  and  was  voted  by  the  graduating  class 
that  year,  either  the  most  popular,  or  next 
to  the  most  popular  preacher  of  the  year. 
But  such  words  do  not  describe  his  place  and 
spirit.  It  was  not  popular  that  he  sought  to 
be,  but  spiritually  helpful  and  creative.  And 
young  men  felt  this,  and  realized  that  they 
were  hearing  a  man  who  lived  the  high  and 
radiant  life,  and  longed  to  win  them  to  it. 
The  same  qualities  which  gave  him  power 
with   other   classes,   gave   him   power  with 


Schools  and  Colleges        107 

young  men.  The  genial,  leaping  joy;  the 
hopeful,  confident  note  of  moral  victory ;  the 
piquancy  and  intellectual  zest  of  his  way  of 
putting  things ;  the  warmth  and  reality  of 
his  own  acquaintance  with  the  Saviour ;  the 
nobihty  and  unflinching  fidelity  of  his  prin- 
ciples and  ideals;  the  ability  to  relate  the 
truth  and  power  of  the  gospel  to  the  com- 
mon temptations  and  ordinary  life  of  young 
men — these  were  only  a  few  of  the  charac- 
teristics that  made  him  simply  fascinating  to 
many  young  men.  He  knew  their  hearts, 
and  he  was  bent  upon  winning  them  to  the 
pure  and  Christlike  life.  One  of  his  ser- 
mons which  had  a  never  failing  charm  for 
young  men  was  on  *  Overcoming.'  This 
message  of  positive  strength  and  good  cheer, 
beyond  all  clouding,  awoke  in  young  men 
and  boys  those  '  intimations  of  immortality ' 
which  it  takes  much  sin  to  slay,  and  the 
light  came  back  upon  the  skies  of  life  again. 
And  his  own  rich  life  assured  young  men 
that  the  highest  life  is  the  widest  and  fullest. 


io8   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

He  could  talk  to  them  of  any  subject  they 
chose.  He  could  tell  them  of  music,  of  art, 
of  tarpon  fishing,  of  poetry,  of  politics,  and 
most  of  all,  and  this  was  the  subject  he 
chose,  of  Christ.  Of  course  he  had  his  own 
church  work  to  do,  and  he  reached  multi- 
tudes of  young  men  there ;  but  even  larger 
doors  were  opening  before  him  among  the 
thousands  of  students  of  our  land;  and  he 
was  but  beginning  a  great  work  here,  where 
the  field  is  whitest  to  the  harvest,  and  the 
grain  to  be  gathered  of  value  unsurpassed. 
There  is  no  other  class  which  puts  reality 
to  as  severe  a  test.  That  he  met  their  test- 
ing, and  commended  himself  to  them  as  gold 
was  but  one  of  the  many  evidences  that, 
with  him,  the  Refiner's  work  was  done,  and 
he  could  pass  on." 


VII 
NEW  YORK 


Whose  eye  foresaw  this  way  ? 

Not  mine. 
Whose  hand  marked  out  this  day  ? 

Not  mine. 

A  clearer  eye  than  mine, 

'Twas  Thine. 
A  wiser  hand  than  mine, 

'Twas  Thine! 

Then  let  my  hand  be  still 

In  Thine, 
And  let  me  fnd  my  will 

In  Thine  ! 

— M.  D.  B. 


From  a  portrait  taken  November,  1899. 


VII 

NEW  YORK 

WHEN    his    call  from   the    Brick 
Church,     New    York,    came,    so 
brought  that  even  his  own  people 
at  Baltimore,  at  last,  most  reluctantly  con- 
fessed that  the  directing  hand  of  Providence 
was  apparent  in  it,  he  sought  the  counsel  of 
several  friends,  and  kept  the  matter  open  be- 
fore God.     The  entire  city  of  Baltimore  was 
stirred  with  a  strong  desire  to   retain   him. 
Committees  from  the  faculty  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University  and  from  the  students, 
from  the  Ministers'   Union  and  from  many 
churches,  and  from  various  boards  in  the  city 
waited  on  him,  beseeching  him  to  decline  the 
call.     The  prominent  citizens  of  every  pro- 
fession, and  of  every  creed,  and  almost  every 
race,  strongly  urged  him  to  stay  with  them. 
Ill 


1 1 2   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

But  when  he  became  convinced  that  he  was 
being  led,  they  finally  yielded,  virtually  say- 
ing, "  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 

At  the  time  that  the  committee  of  the 
Brick  Church  prosecuted  the  call,  and  went 
to  Baltimore  to  meet  Dr.  Babcock  and  the 
session  of  the  Brown  Memorial  Church,  and 
pressed  the  claims  of  the  great  needs  of  New 
York  City,  Dr.  van  Dyke  accompanied 
them.  It  was  a  memorable  meeting.  Dr. 
van  Dyke  afterwards  said,  that  while  he 
never  had  had  any  reason  to  doubt  the  love 
of  his  people  for  him,  he  had  never  known 
any  minister  loved  as  Dr.  Babcock  was 
loved  by  that  people.  The  session  broke 
down  and  sobbed.  Dr.  Babcock  was  com- 
pletely melted.  Dr.  van  Dyke  was  deeply 
moved.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
the  Brick  Church  said  afterwards  that  he 
would  not  wish  to  be  present  again  at  any 
meeting  so  harrowing  to  one's  feelings. 

How  can  one  describe  that  one  year  in 
New  York  City  !     It  is  a  story  that  cannot 


New  York  113 

be  told.  Crowds  waited  on  his  every  public 
utterance,  eager,  awakened  and  devout.  Old 
men  and  young,  old  women  and  young,  and 
children,  who  specially  loved  him,  were 
closely  drawn  to  him,  and  held  by  him.  The 
children  who  always  know,  unerringly  felt 
that  he  was  their  friend  and  lover.  He  had 
a  sort  of  free-masonry  with  them  that  cap- 
tured them  and  captivated  them.  A  little 
incident  that  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
family,  after  he  had  gone,  particularly  in- 
terested and  gratified  them. 

A  little  fellow  living  in  that  quarter  of  the 
city,  but  not  in  that  congregation  came  home 
one  day  in  a  state  of  great  enthusiasm  and 
excitement,  and  we  will  let  him  tell  the  story 
in  his  own  words.  "  Mother,  I  have  had  the 
time  of  my  Hfe  !  O  I  have  had  a  bully  time  ! 
I've  been  to  a  fire  !  "  "  But,  my  son,  I  told 
you  that  you  must  not  go  to  a  fire,  without 
some  older  person  to  go  with  you."  "  Well, 
that's  just  what  I  did — I  was  standing  on  the 
curb  and  watching  a  big  fire  engine  go  tear- 


114  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ing  by,  and  wishing  I  could  go  too,  when  a 
man  stopped,  and  said  to  me,  *  Little  man, 
would  you  like  to  go  to  that  fire  ? '  and  I  said, 
*  You  bet  I  would ! '  and  he  just  took  my 
hand  and  said,  *  Come  with  me,'  and  while 
we  were  going,  he  told  me  all  about  fire 
engines,  and  some  grand  stories  about  fire- 
men saving  people's  lives  from  burning  build- 
ings, and  everything  !  "  "  Well,  my  boy,  who 
was  it  ?  "  ♦*  Why  it  was  that  minister  at  the 
Brick  Church."  The  story  is  cherished  be- 
cause it  was  very  like  him. 

His  personal  appearance,  as  the  great 
preacher  in  the  Brick  Church  must  be  con- 
sidered as  a  part  of  his  power.  It  was 
masterful  and  most  attractive.  Few  souls 
were  ever  more  perfectly  embodied.  Dr. 
Ford  of  Sidon,  Syria,  who  saw  him  only 
one  night,  as  the  Auburn  Seminary  party 
stopped  there,  en  route  for  Beirut,  wrote  of 
him  as  follows,  "  The  Hfe  and  soul  of  the 
party  was  Dr.  Maltbie  Babcock,  of  the  Brick 
Church,  New  York,  successor  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 


New  York  1 1 5 

van  Dyke.  He  is  a  man  of  overflowing 
spirits  and  fun ;  tall,  bright,  sociable,  un- 
assuming, and  consecrated.  I  can  see  why 
he  has  justly  conquered,  so  quickly,  a  high 
place  in  the  ranks  of  the  distinguished 
clergymen  of  the  great  metropolis."  A 
leading  physician  in  Naples,  called  to  see 
him  at  the  hotel,  before  he  was  taken  to  the 
hospital,  where  he  died  from  Mediterranean 
fever,  was  profoundly  impressed  with  his 
physique.  He  referred  again  and  again  to 
his  magnificent  physical  frame,  his  muscular 
power,  and  humorously  said  that  he  should 
little  relish  having  such  a  man  attack  him  on 
a  dark  night  in  the  streets  of  Naples.  With 
this,  one  must  have  in  mind  his  personality, 
protean,  and  magnetic,  giving  him  an  influ- 
ence that  pervaded  whatever  place  he  en- 
tered. His  presence  was  felt  all  through  the 
house.  It  was  hardly  necessary  to  say  "  He 
is  here."  I  recall  a  description  given  by  one 
of  his  family,  of  an  unexpected  visit  he 
made  at  the  old  home  in  Syracuse.     Having 


1 1 6   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

to  go  to  Rochester  from  Baltimore,  to  give 
an  address,  he  took  an  early  train  the  next 
morning,  reaching  Syracuse  before  six 
o'clock.  The  dear  old  house  stood  "  silent 
and  aware."  No  one  had  as  yet  risen. 
There  was  not  a  nook  nor  corner  of  that 
house  with  which  he  was  not  perfectly 
familiar,  and  it  was  therefore  easy  for  him 
to  make  a  noiseless  entrance.  He  opened 
the  piano  and  began  to  play.  Every  one 
up-stairs  was  awakened.  There  was  no  mis- 
taking the  touch,  his  music  was  a  part  of  his 
unique  personality.  In  a  few  moments  his 
brothers  and  sisters  were  leaning  over  the 
stair  rail,  crying,  in  joyful  excitement — 
"  Maltbie  !  It  is  Maltbie  !  "  It  was  this 
strange,  almost  mysterious  personality  which 
made  it  impossible  to  report  him.  No 
verbatim  speech  ever  quite  conveyed  what 
he  said,  as  he  said  it.  As  the  scientific, 
botanical  analysis  of  a  flower  does  not  pre- 
sent the  flower  itself,  for  the  beauty  and  the 
fragrance  have  escaped,  the  analysis  being 


New  York  1 1 7 

secured,  at  their  expense ;  so  no  report  of 
his  address  or  sermon  held  that,  which 
was  so  much  a  part  of  what  he  said ; 
his  way  of  saying  it.  Dr.  Purves  said, 
after  his  death — "  Maltbie  Babcock  im- 
pressed all  who  met  him,  or  heard  him,  by 
the  vigorous  outflow  of  hfe,  which  he  com- 
municated to  friends  and  hearers.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  personality  of  the  man  which  took 
hold  of  them,  and  held  them  fast.  His 
mental  acuteness  made  truth  sparkle  as  he 
uttered  it.  He  analyzed  it,  illustrated  it, 
turned  it  over  before  you,  that  you  might 
see  it  at  different  angles.  He  often  dazzled 
by  his  brilliant  suggestions ;  yet  his  discourse 
was  not  a  mere  display  of  truth.  He  was 
always  practical.  He  put  his  own  spiritual 
hfe  into  his  teachings,  that  he  might  put  the 
latter  into  his  hearers.  He  aimed  to  make 
his  people  feel  and  then  live  the  truth.  His 
was  a  life  filled  with  spiritual  reality,  giving 
itself,  in  word  and  act  for  and  into  the  life  of 
others.     Of  course  this  was  magnetic;  and 


1 1 8   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

in  this  age  when  practical  religious  vitality- 
is  both  appreciated  and  needed,  his  influence 
was  expanding  more  and  more."  Can  any 
of  those  who  heard  him,  forget  his  pulpit  ap- 
pearance ?  The  doctor's  gown  which  he 
wore,  after  he  went  to  New  York,  was 
peculiarly  becoming  to  him,  serving  to  set 
off  more  distinctly  his  broad  shoulders,  and 
the  poise  of  his  noble  head ;  tall,  athletic, 
sinewy,  graceful  in  form  and  gesture,  it  was 
a  pleasure  simply  to  look  at  him.  His  fine 
face  was  the  mirror  of  his  soul,  as  he  spoke. 
Some  public  speakers  might  as  well  wear 
veils  or  visors  closed,  so  far  as  their  faces 
are  to  be  considered  as  factors  in  conveying 
impressions  of  what  is  said.  Not  a  muscle 
moves,  except  in  the  mechanical  exercise  of 
speaking.  There  is  not  a  flash  of  the  eye, 
not  a  flush  on  the  cheek,  not  a  turn  or 
quiver  of  the  upper  lip,  one  of  the  most 
expressive  features  of  the  face,  in  moving 
discourse.  But  when  Maltbie  Babcock  was 
in  the  pulpit,  he  turned  a  radiant  face  to- 


New  York  1 1 9 

wards  his  waiting  people.  It  was  not  dull 
and  passionless  at  first,  waiting  to  warm  and 
glow  as  he  moved  on,  under  the  spell  of  his 
thought.  Before  he  uttered  a  word,  the  ex- 
pression of  his  face  was  sympathetic,  antici- 
pative  and  prophetic.  He  captured  the 
attention  and  warm  sympathy  of  his  hearers 
at  the  outset.  When  he  began  to  speak 
his  voice  added  to  the  charm.  Professor 
Fagnani  said  of  his  voice,  "  It  was  a  great 
gift,  a  wonderful  organ,  clarion-toned,  and 
thrilling  Hke  a  trumpet  call."  No  one  who 
ever  heard  it  can  forget  it — vibrant,  power- 
ful, sympathetic,  perfectly  under  his  control, 
and  adapting  itself  to  all  his  varied  moods. 
He  selected  his  hymns  with  the  greatest 
care,  making  them  the  prelude  to  his  theme. 
This  was  a  peculiar  characteristic  of  his  pred- 
ecessor. And  some  of  his  people  said  on  Dr. 
Babcock's  first  Sunday  at  the  Brick  Church, "  I 
shall  never  be  quite  satisfied  unless  our  new 
pastor  shows  that  fine  cultured  discrimina- 
tion and  worshipful  feeling  which  were  so 


I20  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

apparent  in  Dr.  van  Dyke's  selection  of  his 
hymns."  When  that  first  service  was  over 
they  said,  "  I  am  content,  it  was  perfect." 
The  selection  from  the  Scripture  was  read 
with  singular  clearness  and  reverence,  with  a 
flood  of  light  let  in,  now  and  then,  on  a 
difficult  passage,  by  his  illuminating  accent, 
or  emphasis.  But  it  was  his  prayer  before 
the  sermon  which  opened  all  the  gates  of 
one's  heart  and  brought  one  unresisting  to 
the  very  altar  of  God.  Every  Sunday  it  was 
a  new  prayer.  There  were  no  worn  ruts  of 
trite  expressions.  Each  sentence  was  as 
new  and  fresh  as  his  own  rich  experience  in 
secret  prayer,  that  morning,  before  the 
service.  Joy,  thankfulness,  reverence,  con- 
fession, and  childlike  confidence,  implicit 
faith,  vehement  holy  desire,  intense  sym- 
pathy with,  and  appreciation  of  the  wants 
of  the  congregation,  and  a  quick  and  quick- 
ening understanding  of  his  office  as  an  in- 
tercessor, all  had  their  place  and  expression 
in  that  thrilling  prayer.     Had  there  been  no 


New  York  121 

sermon  following  it,  one  would  have  felt  a 
Divine  blessing,  and  would  have  gone  away 
filled.  It  is  a  source  of  great  regret,  that 
there  was  no  one  to  take  down  a  steno- 
graphic report  of  his  prayers  and  of  his 
sermons.  For  while  nothing,  in  the  way  of 
a  report,  however  full,  could  convey  what  he 
said,  as  the  hearer  saw  him  say  it,  yet  as  one 
did  not  ordinarily  see  him,  while  he  prayed, 
a  full  report  of  the  prayer  might  revive  the 
strange  thrill  of  reverent  feeling,  provided 
there  was  the  same  spiritual  atmosphere 
from  the  evident  presence  of  the  spirit  of 
God  as  when  the  prayer  was  offered.  And 
now  that  the  notes  of  his  sermons  prove  to 
be  indecipherable,  the  sense  of  loss  grows 
upon  us.  The  few  fragments  preserved  in 
that  precious  book,  "  Thoughts  for  Every- 
Day  Living,"  prepared  by  Mrs.  Babcock  and 
Miss  Sanford,  are  so  illuminating.  Single 
sentences  and  phrases  bulk  so  large,  they 
send  such  flashes  of  light  into  the  dark  re- 
cesses of  things  never  told,  that  our  hearts 


122   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ache  for  a  volume  of  full  reported  sermons, 
with  all  the  lack  they  would  inevitably  have, 
of  the  way  he  spoke  them. 

It  was  not  surprising  that  his  church,  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  was  thronged.  That  was  not 
a  strange  thing  for  that  church,  at  the  morn- 
ing service,  under  the  inspiring  ministry  of 
Dr.  van  Dyke,  but  the  latter  rarely  preached 
at  the  second  service,  towards  the  close  of  his 
pastorate.  But  at  Dr.  Babcock's  afternoon 
service  the  church  was  as  packed  with  eager, 
devout  hearers,  as  in  the  morning.  It  was 
at  an  unpropitious  hour,  few  people  were  in 
the  habit  of  going  to  any  church  at  4  o'clock 
p.  M.  The  tired  faithful  workers  in  the  mis- 
sions, those  saints,  ordinarily  counted  on  to 
break  up  the  waste  places  of  the  second 
service,  were  at  that  time  at  their  mission 
schools.  He  had  settled,  most  satisfactorily, 
that  problem  of  the  second  service  usually 
so  puzzling  to  the  paster.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Daniel  H.  Martin  wrote  for  the  Intellige^icer, 
after  Dr.  Babcock's  death  a  very  able  article, 


New  York  123 

from  which  I  quote,  to  give  his  impression 
also  of  Dr.  Babcock  in  the  pulpit. 

"  What  were  the  elements  that  entered 
into  the  great  popularity  and  success  of  this 
young  preacher  ?  He  had  a  combination  of 
rare  qualities  not  frequently  given  to  any 
one  man ;  well-born,  athletic,  a  fine  musi- 
cian, a  clever  poet,  the  instincts  of  an  artist, 
a  clear  thinker,  a  powerful  and  persuasive 
orator.  Added  to  all  this  was  a  certain  in- 
definable personal  magnetism,  which  gave 
him  power  over  the  individual  in  conversa- 
tion, or  over  an  audience  in  preaching. 
Men  were  charmed  with  him,  women  were 
entranced  with  him,  and  children  loved  him. 
He  was  a  pure  soul  consecrated  to  Christ. 
When  he  stood  up  to  preach,  all  the  quahties 
that  I  have  named  did  their  part  in  sending 
the  truth  home  to  those  who  listened.  But 
there  was  not  the  slightest  trace  of  self-con- 
sciousness in  the  preacher.  You  forgot  the ' 
messenger,  in  the  intense  interest  created  by 
the  message.     The  preacher  used  no  manu- 


124   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

script,  and  gave  you  the  impression  of  one 
who  was  complete  master  of  the  situation. 
The  bigger  the  audience,  the  less  tremour 
and  the  more  confidence  there  was  in  his 
voice.  His  thoughts  were  not  tethered  to 
notes  of  any  sort,  and  what  is  the  more  re- 
markable, there  was  no  sophomoric  declama- 
tion about  the  sermon,  as  though  it  had  been 
memorized  in  the  study.  As  you  sat  in  the 
pew  you  felt  yourself  listening  to  a  man 
whose  soul  was  a  reservoir  of  truth  bursting 
for  outlet.  His  words  came  like  a  torrent, 
with  no  thought  concerning  the  polish  or 
finish  of  sentences,  and  yet,  devoid  of  art, 
they  were  in  the  highest  sense  artistic.  Epi- 
grams flashed  and  illumined  whole  para- 
graphs ;  single  sentences  made  their  dent 
upon  the  memory ;  you  felt  that  the  speaker 
had  been  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Truth,  and 
had  absorbed  and  digested  in  his  own  ex- 
perience, that  which  he  was  giving  out  for 
our  consideration.  His  attitude  was  ever 
that  of  the  soldier  who  had  serious  business 


New  York  125 

on  hand,  even  the  King's,  and  it  required 
haste.     There     was     blood-red     earnestness 
from  the  time  the  text  was  spoken  to  the 
abrupt  *  Let  us   pray '  at  the  end.     No  won- 
der   God    so   wonderfully  used  and  blessed 
the  efforts  of  such  a  man.     He  had  gotten! 
beyond  the  place  where  he  was  in  bondage,  ■ 
either  to  vanity,  or  ambition  for  the  applause  ' 
of  men.     Hence  no  fear  of  criticism,  nor  of  ^ 
breaking  over  the  bounds  of  conventionaHty 
kept   him   from  being  his  own  sincere  self, 
and   declaring   the  whole   counsel   of  God. 
The  charm  of  his  preaching  is  what  Freder- 
ick Robertson,  whom  he  is  said  to  have  re- 
sembled, would  have  called  the  '  reality  of  it.' 
He  laid  hold  of  the  intuitions  of  the  soul  and 
spoke  to   their   most   earnest    questionings. 
Not  only  was  his  message  fresh  and  up  to 
date,  it  was  always  Scriptural  and  spiritual. 
He  was  essentially  a  man's  preacher.     Great  I 
multitudes  of  men  were  in  attendance  upon 
his  ministry  every  Sabbath.     And  he  knew 
what  was  in  man,  and  believed  that  God  had 


126   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

put  every  man  here  for  the  purpose  of 
working  out  a  plan  of  God,  that  every  man 
had  within  him  the  power  of  the  endless  life. 
There  was  no  wonder  that  great  throngs 
hung  upon  the  words  of  this  prophet  of 
God.  They  found  their  problems  answered^ 
their  thirst  refreshed,  and  they  left  the  pews 
with  the  feeling  that  life  was  after  all  an 
earnest  and  purposeful  thing,  and  that  they 
were  commissioned  to  build  up  the  world, 
by  building  up  so  much  of  it  as  lay  within 
the  development  of  their  own  characters." 

He  aimed  to  bend  everything  to  his 
special  enduement  of  power  for  his  work  as 
a  minister  of  the  gospel.  He  never  hesi- 
tated a  moment  over  questions  of  policy. 
Like  Paul  he  held  tenaciously  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Christian  liberty.  But  he  had  more 
delight  in  waiving  his  use  of  that  liberty, 
than  in  exercising  it,  if  his  use  of  it  might  in 
any  way  interfere  with  his  usefulness. 
Knowing  so  well  his  native  dramatic  power, 
and  his  great  enjoyment  of  good  comedy 


New  York  127 

and  tragedy,  I  asked  him  if  he  ever  went  to 
the  theatre.  "  Never."  Bearing  in  mind  his 
dehght  in  the  best  music,  and  his  famiHarity 
with  many  scores  of  celebrated  compositions 
in  opera,  oratorio  and  orchestral  music,  I 
said,  "  How  about  the  opera  ?  Do  you  never 
go  ?  "  "  Never."  Any  one,  who  knew  him 
well,  would  not  have  to  ask  why.  I  knew 
that  it  was  Paul's  reason.  But  Mr.  Trum- 
bull, in  the  Sunday- School  Times,  after  Dr. 
Babcock  left  us,  related  two  incidents  which 
explained  and  illustrated  his  reason,  and 
which  I  here  quote.  "  When  lunching  one 
day  with  some  business  men.  Dr.  Babcock 
was  offered  a  cigar,  and  a  hope  was  ex- 
pressed that  he  would  join  the  others  in  a 
social  smoke.  Instantly  his  face  lighted  up 
with  one  of  his  winning  smiles,  and  he  said  to 
the  speaker  :  *  Thank  you  very  much  for  your 
kindness.  But  you  know  I  have  a  profes- 
sion that  means  more  to  me  than  anything 
else  in  the  world.  I  guard  it  very  jealously. 
I  am  liable  to  be  called  out  at  any  time  of 


128   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

night  or  day,  in  the  service  of  my  profession, 
and  if  I  were  called  suddenly  to  the  bedside 
of  some  one  who  was  dying,  it  wouldn't 
seem  just  right,  would  it — if  I  had  the  odour 
of  tobacco  in  my  clothes  and  on  my  breath. 
So  you  will  pardon  me  won't  you,  if  I  don't 
join  you  in  this.'  " 

At  another  time  one  of  the  wealthier 
members  of  his  congregation  offered  him 
the  use  of  his  box  at  the  opera,  through  the 
season,  and  instantly  this  reply  came :  "  I 
can't  thank  you  enough  for  the  kindness 
you  are  showing  me.  But  you  know  how 
a  surgeon,  in  practicing  his  profession,  is  not 
only  obliged  to  keep  his  hands  and  linen 
free  from  dirt,  but  he  must  keep  himself 
aseptically  clean  as  well.  Now,  in  my  pro- 
fession, I  have  to  be  even  more  careful  than 
a  surgeon,  and  so  I  must  be  careful  about 
things  that  might  do  harm  in  even  the  most 
indirect  way.  You  will  understand  per- 
fectly, I  know,  why  I  cannot  accept  the 
great  kindness  you  are  offering  me,  though  I 


New  York  129 

do  thank  you  for  it  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart." 

Through  all  the  hurry,  pressure,  claims 
and  calls  to  public  work  and  pastoral  care, 
and  he  called  on  every  member  of  that  great 
church  in  that  year,  he  moved  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  great  peace  of  mind,  getting  evi- 
dently nearer  daily  to  the  great  source  of  Hfe 
and  power.  One  evening  or  late  afternoon 
in  that  last  January  of  his  earthly  life,  we 
stood  for  quite  a  while  on  the  corner  of  Fifth 
Avenue  and  37th  Street,  watching  the  whirl 
of  the  great  city's  life.  The  Waldorf- 
Astoria,  lighted  to  its  crown,  glowed  just  be- 
low us;  across  the  corner  was  his  church; 
just  back  of  us  was  his  home,  made  most  at- 
tractive and  beautiful  by  the  combined  ex- 
quisite taste  of  both  him  and  his  wife.  I 
said  to  him,  "  Maltbie,  are  you  at  home  here, 
are  you  happy  in  your  work  ? "  "I  love 
it,"  came  the  instant  reply.  It  was  then 
that  I  had  a  memorable  experience  in  the 
manse,  in  this  my  last  visit  with  them.     His 


130  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

invitation  to  be  with  them  at  that  time,  was 
characteristic.  A  concert  was  to  be  given 
in  New  York,  which  he  knew  I  would 
specially  enjoy,  and  he  wrote  to  me,  then  at 
Scranton,  Pa.,  **  Come  down  next  week  to 
the  concert.  You  put  up  with  us,  and  we 
will  put  up  with  you."  While  there  and 
resting  in  my  room,  he  came  in.  I  had  just 
been  thinking  with  regret,  of  my  inabihty  to 
be  present  at  the  Retreat  held  in  the 
November  previous,  by  the  New  York 
Presbytery,  where  he  and  Robert  Speer  took 
a  very  prominent  part  among  the  speakers. 
And  I  asked  him,  if,  then  and  there,  we 
could  not  have  a  reminder  of  that  time,  so 
blessed  to  those  present — if  we  could  not 
have  a  little  Retreat  in  that  room,  he  giving 
me  the  Hne  of  his  thought  on  the  former 
occasion.  He  cordially  consented,  and  in 
about  fifteen  minutes  returned  and  began,  in 
a  quiet  but  very  thrilling  way,  a  mono- 
logue on  Habakkuk's  prayer.  While  we 
were     moving     out     into    the     depths     of 


New  York  131 

his  subject  and  his  treatment  of  it, 
the  door  opened  and  Mrs.  Babcock  en- 
tered. They  were  so  thoroughly  one,  that 
it  never  for  a  moment  seemed  Hke  an  intru-., 
sion,  to  arrest  the  flow  of  thought  and  feel-|j 
ing.  On  the  contrary,  it  seemed  to  increase 
it.  She  sat  down  on  the  arm  of  his  chair, 
and  putting  his  arm  around  her,  he  went  on 
with  the  rich  exposition  of  his  theme,  all  of 
us  deeply  moved  by  the  intense  spiritual 
character  of  that  service.  The  direction  of 
his  thought,  and  the  prayer  he  offered,  were 
certainly  the  result  of  Christ's  being  in  him, 
with  great  power. 

Soon  after  that  came  the  end,  that  voyage 
to  the  Holy  Land  with  the  Auburn  Seminary 
party.  Letters  were  received  from  Gibraltar 
telling  of  the  delightful  voyage,  with  humor- 
ous sketches  of  droll  incidents.  The  full  ac- 
count of  the  trip  is  given  most  graphically  in 
his  published  letters  to  the  Men's  Society  of 
the  Brick  Church.  One  of  his  last  letters 
was   written   to    me,   from   the   camp   near 


132   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

Shechem,  in  the  Lord's  land.  He  referred 
particularly  to  the  death  of  our  eldest  son, 
one  of  his  most  intimate  friends;  and  the 
last  sentence  which  he  ever  wrote  me,  was 
this :  "  I  had  such  a  happy  dream  of  you 
and  Ed  last  night.  What  a  good  time  we 
shall  have  way  ahead."  Within  a  few  short 
weeks  he  had  entered  into  that  life.  He  was 
"  way  ahead."  That  he  should  have  been 
taken  is  one  of  the  mysteries  hidden  in  God's 
most  holy  will.  But  his  life  is  full  of  most 
animating  lessons.  It  was  like  a  benediction 
to  know  him,  to  love  him,  and  be  loved  by 
him.  There  is  a  benediction  in  recalling, 
even  in  this  imperfect  way,  these  remi- 
niscences. 

Lord,  let  me  make  this  rule, 
To  think  of  life  as  school, 

And  try  my  best 

To  stand  each  test, 

And  do  my  work, 

And  nothing  shirk. 

Should  some  one  else  outshine 
This  dullard  head  of  mine. 


New  York  133 


Should  I  be  sad  ? 
I  will  be  glad. 
To  do  my  best 
Is  Thy  behest. 

If  weary  with  my  book 
I  cast  a  wistful  look 

Where  posies  grow, 

0  let  me  know 
That  flowers  within 
Are  best  to  win. 

Dost  take  my  book  away 
Anon  to  let  me  play, 
And  let  me  out 
To  run  about? 

1  grateful  bless 
Thee  for  recess. 

Then  recess  past,  alack 
I  turn  me  slowly  back. 
On  my  hard  bench. 
My  hands  to  clench, 
And  set  my  heart 
To  learn  my  part. 


These  lessons  Thou  dost  give 
To  teach  me  how  to  live, 
To  do,  to  bear, 
To  get  and  share. 
To  work  and  play, 
And  trust  alway. 


1 34  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

What  though  I  may  not  ask 
To  choose  my  daily  task  ? 

Thou  hast  decreed 

To  meet  my  need. 

What  pleases  Thee, 

That  shall  please  me. 

Some  day  the  bell  will  sound, 
Some  day  my  heart  will  bound, 

As  with  a  shout 

That  school  is  out 

And  lessons  done, 

I  homeward  run. 

— M.  D,  B. 


VIII 
IN  MEMORIAM 


This    is   the    death  of   Deathy    to    breathe   away    a 

breath 
And  know  the  ejid  of  strife,  and  taste  the  deathless 

life. 

And  joy  without  a  fear y  and  smile  without  a  tear 
And  worky  nor  carey  nor  rest,  and  find  the  last  the 
best.  — M.  D.  B. 


VIII 

IN  MEMORIAM 

I  AM  permitted  to  quote  from  the  many- 
tributes  to  Dr.  Babcock,  gathered  in  the 
Brown  Memorial  Monthly  of  June,  1901. 
The  article  written  for  the  Evangelist  hy  the 
late  distinguished  pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York,  Dr.  George 
T.  Purves,  who  so  soon,  in  another  mystery 
of  Providence,  followed  him,  an  article  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted,  closes  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"In  the  personal  relations  of  life  he  fasci- 
nated the  hearts  of  his  friends.  He  had  the 
sprightHness  of  a  boy  with  the  maturity  of  a 
man.  He  was  full  of  humour  and  fond  of 
healthy  play,  yet  retained  the  spiritual  tem- 
per of  a  servant  of  God.  He  had  also  an 
artist's  soul.  Music  was  a  passion  with  him  ; 
137 


138   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

song  and  poetry  a  delight.  He  loved  the 
beautiful  in  nature.  He  had  keen,  quick  in- 
sight, and  could  put  his  vision  of  truth  into 
epigrammatic  phrases  that  were  as  suggestive 
as  they  were  terse.  His  enthusiasm  was 
contagious  ;  his  mind  was  ever  active ;  his 
nervous  energy  was  the  symptom  of  the  in- 
tensity of  his  life.  His  genuineness  of  char- 
acter, his  sincerity  and  naturalness,  made  him 
peculiarly  lovable  to  those  who  knew  him. 

"  And  so  we  mourn  with  hosts  of  others, 
the  strange  Providence  which  has  taken  from 
the  church  this  noble  instrument  of  good. 
To  the  sorrowing  wife,  in  the  distant  land, 
we  offer  our  tender  sympathy.  We  thank 
God,  however,  that  she  was  with  him  to  the 
end ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  others  of  that 
party,  who  started  joyfully  on  the  long- 
planned  journey,  were  also  there  to  aid  and 
comfort.  We  remember  also  that  heaven  is 
as  near  to  Italy  as  to  America ;  that  the 
Saviour,  whom  he  loved  and  served,  was  as 
close  to  him  in  Naples  as  He  would  have 


In  Memoriam  139 

been  in  New  York.  We  turn  our  thoughts 
to  the  joy  into  which  he  has  entered,  to  the 
loftier  song  in  which  he  has  now  joined ;  to 
the  music  of  the  harps  of  gold  by  the 
crystal  sea.  He  went  to  see  the  Holy  Land  ; 
he  has  gone  to  the  land  of  hohness  itself. 
He  went  to  trace  the  footprints  of  the  Lord 
on  earth ;  he  has  gone  to  the  real  presence 
of  the  Christ.  He  went  to  the  Jerusalem 
where  Jesus  was  crucified ;  he  has  gone  to 
the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  where  Jesus  is 
glorified.  While  friends  and  people  mourn 
his  absence  and  his  seemingly  untimely  end, 
he  has  reached  already  his  reward  and  has 
won  his  crown.  His  life  has  not  ended.  It 
is  only  the  preparation  for  the  life  that  has 
been  finished  and  has  gone  into  larger 
service  in  the  world  beyond  the  gates. 
Noble  fellow  workman ;  thou  hast  but  gone 
before  the  rest  of  us  a  little  while." 

The  Presbyterian  Journal  had  an  excellent 
editorial,  from  which  I  quote  these  words  : 

"  A  complete   analysis  of  Dr.  Babcock's 


140  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

life  and  character  would  be  difficult  to  give. 
He  was  one  of  those  few  men  whose  worth 
transcends  estimate.  Worth  is  often  con- 
spicuous by  a  single  talent.  Such  was  not 
true  of  him.  He  was  a  man  of  many  sides, 
attractive  in  physique,  pleasant  in  manner, 
with  a  soul  that  reflected  God. 

<•  Real  worth  is  always  a  composite.  It  is 
never  a  segment,  but  always  the  circle.  Dr. 
Babcock  was  a  clear  thinker,  a  fluent 
speaker,  and  one  who  knew  the  proper 
relations  of  things.  And  yet  he  was  more 
than  all  these.  God  shone  through  him. 
Goodness,  with  him,  was  not  a  thing  apart, 
it  was  himself.  His  place  many  can  take, 
few  can  fill.  Why  God  took  him  is  the 
most  mysterious  of  all.  All  Providence 
touches  the  infinite,  and  the  wisdom  of  this 
lies  beyond  rational  conjecture.  This  world 
needed  him  much,  but  the  other  needed  him 
more ;  and  here  it  becomes  us  to  be  silent. 
His  influence  will  pass  into  a  thousand  lives, 
and     only    cease    at    the    judgment.      Im- 


In  Memoriam  141 

mortality  begins  with  life.  Death  intensifies, 
but  cannot  destroy.  Some  day  things  will 
be  made  plainer.     Until  then  we  must  wait." 

A  copy  of  the  minute  adopted  by  the  session  of 
the  Brick  Church,  New  York  City,  upon  the  death 
of  our  pastor,  the  Reverend  Maltbie  Davenport 
Babcock,  D.  D.,  who  departed  this  life  at  Naples, 
Italy,  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  May,  igoi. 

During  a  century  and  a  third  of  our  eccle- 
siastical history,  but  thrice  has  the  pastorate 
been  terminated  by  the  death  of  the  pastor 
in  office.  The  Reverend  Doctors  John 
Rogers  and  Gardiner  Spring  had  each  more 
than  lived  out  the  full  tale  of  threescore 
years  and  ten ;  each  had  been  for  fifty  years 
the  minister  of  this  people,  when  God  called 
him  away — full  of  years  and  honours,  his 
successful  work  well  rounded  out.  But  the 
active  pastorate  of  Dr.  Babcock  lasted  but 
little  over  a  year.  He  came  to  us  under  cir- 
cumstances strikingly  indicative  of  the  guid- 
ance of  the  good  hand  of  God.     He  was  the 


142   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

unanimous  choice  of  officers  and  people — 
there  was  no  second  choice — nor  was  there 
an  instant's  hesitation  as  to  his  being  the 
man  we  needed.  The  Presbytery  of  New 
York  too  was  so  convinced  that  Dr.  Bab- 
cock's  great  heart  and  devoted  service  were 
needed  in  this  city,  that  they  adopted  the 
unusual  course  of  appointing  a  committee  to 
urge  upon  him  the  acceptance  of  our  call. 
Even  then  his  coming  would  have  been  well 
nigh  impossible,  but  for  the  influence  of  the 
Divine  spirit  strengthening  him  to  sever 
heart-ties  stronger  than  bands  of  steel ;  con- 
vincing him  that  sacred  duty  beckoned  him 
away  from  all  the  associations  of  an  ideal 
home,  and  devoted  people,  and  a  great  work 
well  maintained,  to  come  among  strangers  ; 
to  enter  a  harder  field ;  to  assume  heavier  re- 
sponsibilities. The  same  Divine  influence 
overruled  the  opposition  of  the  church  and 
the  City  of  Baltimore — indeed,  moving  the 
people,  who  loved  him,  not  to  refuse  consent 
when  his  duty  seemed  clear  to  him  that  he 


In  Memoriam  143 

should     go.      He    came    to    us — a     man  ! 
<  Great-heart '  in  every  sense  !    Tall,  strong, 
full  of  life  ;  with  an  eloquence  all  his  own ; 
with  that  subtle  influence  we  call  '  personal 
magnetism/  for  want  of  a  better  name.     He 
came    trusting  us,  and   holding  nothing  of 
himself  in  reserve — accepting  us  with  all  the 
trust  and  simpHcity  of  a   child.     Although 
he  went  in  and   out  among  us  for  the  brief 
space  of  a  single  year,  he  has  left  an  indelible 
mark  upon  the  church,  the  Presbytery  and 
the  Greater  City.     His  arduous  duties  were 
performed     with     supreme    devotion,    and, 
withal,  so  systematized  that  it  was  well  said 
of  him  he  would  have  been  successful  as  the 
head  of  the  greatest  business  organization. 
But  it  is  not  our   crowded  services  nor  the 
magnificent  success,  with  even  greater  audi- 
ences,   at   the  Ecumenical     Conference,   or 
People's  Institute,  that   most  clearly  marked 
him  as  a  man  of  God  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  term.     These  count  for  much,  and  many 
have   been   the   souls   won   for   the  Master 


144  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

without  more  personal  contact  than  the 
Divine  Influence  emanating  from  his  pulpit 
presence ;  but  his  greatest  work  has  been 
upon  individual  Hves,  to  whom  he  has  minis- 
tered in  season  and  out  of  season,  by  day  and 
by  night,  imparting  to  the  feeblest  something 
of  his  own  vitality  and  faith,  demonstrating, 
by  his  very  look,  his  love  of  God  and  assured 
trust  in  Him,  while  winning  and  holding 
both  strong  and  weak  by  his  tactful  minis- 
trations. How  many  have  been  led  to  the 
Saviour  by  this  personal  influence,  how  many 
have  been  steadied  in  their  faith  and  drawn 
back  from  the  brink  of  temptation  by  his 
hand,  we  may  never  know  here.  His  soul, 
too,  was  attuned  to  music,  his  life  itself  a 
hymn  of  praise.  From  Dr.  Babcock  we 
have  gained  a  clearer  vision  of  what  must 
have  been  the  personal  influence  of  the  Man 
Christ  Jesus,  when  he  walked  the  paths  of 
that  Holy  Land  from  which  our  pastor  was 
called  to  walk  with  Him  the  streets  of  the 


In  Memoriam  145 

New  Jerusalem  and  beside  the  still  waters  of 
the  River  of  God. 

This  is  far  from  being  a  formal  minute  and 
impossible  to  frame  as  a  resolution.  The 
sense  of  our  loss  is  too  recent,  the  shock  of 
the  blow  too  great  for  measured  words.  We 
can  only  bow  before  the  unsolvable  mystery 
of  his  death  at  forty-two,  in  the  midst  of  so 
great  a  work,  and  the  greater  need  for  such 
a  man  as  he.  But  we  can  at  least  turn  away 
in  humility  from  a  contemplation  of  the 
Providence  which  has  bereft  us,  and  with 
one  accord  unite  in  thanks  to  God  that  this 
church  was  permitted  to  have  such  leader- 
ship and  we  such  a  friendship  through  all 
too  short  a  year." 


The  Funeral  Service  at  Brick  Church 

(Prepared  by  Dr.  H.  M.  Simmons  at  the  request  of  the 
pastor  of  the  Brown  Memorial  Church.) 

Not  in  the  experience  of  generations  does 


146   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

it  fall  to  the  lot  of  a  loving  people  to  pay- 
tribute  to  the  virtues  of  a  departed  servant 
of  God  in  such  significant  terms,  as  char- 
acterized the  two  great  gatherings  in  Balti- 
more and  New  York  commemorating  the 
life  and  death  of  our  beloved  brother  and 
former  pastor.  Who  of  all  the  Hving  has 
ever  witnessed  ceremonies  so  unique  and  yet 
so  befitting,  as  were  observed  by  these  two 
great  cities,  widely  distant,  yet  through  this 
common  sorrow  bound  by  the  indissoluble 
ties  of  human  sympathy  and  affectionate 
interest.  Why  these  outpourings  of  rended 
hearts  from  every  quarter?  Because  the 
ascended  was  more  than  the  pastor  of 
Brown  Memorial  Church — more  than  the 
minister  of  Brick  Church.  Endowed  with  a 
multanimous  nature  and  possessing  rare 
personal  comeliness,  he  had  won  thousands 
through  his  complex  personality ;  but  the 
secret  of  his  magnetic  power  was  embodied 
in  his  fervid  heart-love  for  humanity.  The 
Fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  Brotherhood  of 


In  Memoriam  147 

Man  was  an  ever  regnant  principle  in  his 
every  act  and  thought. 

In  this  funeral  service  as  in  the  memorial, 
it  was  as  though  the  absent  one  before  his 
departure  had  expressed  a  wish  which  had 
been  sacredly  observed.  Such  was  his 
power  over  men  while  in  the  body,  that 
even  in  death  no  service  was  too  sacred,  no 
act  too  trivial  for  those  who  would  do 
honour  to  the  character  of  him  who  stamped 
every  opportunity,  every  obligation  with  the 
seal  of  fidelity.  And  so  with  one  mind,  one 
heart,  the  thread  of  one  common  purpose 
running  throughout,  the  arrangements  for 
the  funeral  obsequies  had  been  perfected. 
They  bore  the  tender  impress  of  woman's 
hand,  of  that  one,  for  whose  bleeding  heart 
the  prayers  of  the  Christian  world  ascend — 
the  devoted  wife.  For  the  order  of  funeral 
service  was  really  the  crystallization  of  Mrs. 
Babcock's  own  suggestions,  who  of  all  others 
knew  best  the  innermost  recesses  of  that 
great  heart  which  had  throughout  the  years 


148   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

beat  in  perfect  unison  with  hers.  As  if  to 
harmonize  with  the  ever-memorable  Memo- 
rial service  in  Baltimore,  so  were  the  funeral 
arrangements  in  New  York.  Impressive 
were  they,  yet  happily  free  from  those  dark, 
dismal  funereal  rites  which  tend  only  towards 
depression.  Instead,  victory  was  the  key- 
note; triumphant  strains  were  exultant 
throughout.  As  an  orderly  plan  in  the  ar- 
rangements, fifteen  hundred  cards  of  admis- 
sion had  been  issued  to  the  Brick  Church 
congregation  and  painstaking  provision 
made  for  the  Baltimore  attendants.  In  this 
connection  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the 
most  kindly  and  thoughtful  consideration 
was  shown  our  people,  by  those  in  authority. 
Both  official  and  informal  recognition  of 
this  fact  has  been  communicated  to  the 
session  of  the  Brick  Church.  Through  the 
courtesy  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  a 
special  car  was  placed  in  service  for  the 
Brown  Memorial  people.  Before  the  hour 
appointed  the  large  edifice  was  entirely  filled 


In  Memoriam  149 

and  many  were  gathered  upon  the  streets 
outside.  The  floral  decorations  were  em- 
blematically significant.  The  purple  and 
black  were  relieved  by  a  profusion  of  green 
and  white  flowers.  The  front  of  the  gallery 
was  hung  with  wreaths  of  white  roses ;  the 
rear  of  the  platform  was  banked  with  palms, 
and  great  banks  of  spiraea  were  heaped  up  at 
either  side  of  the  reading  desk.  Nine  larger 
wreaths  of  rhododendrons  were  arranged 
around  the  side  galleries.  A  large  wreath 
of  roses,  violets  and  lilies  of  the  valley  was 
the  tribute  of  the  ushers.  The  casket  was 
placed  immediately  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  at 
the  head  of  the  centre  aisle.  The  space  in 
front  of  the  platform,  at  either  end,  and  be- 
hind the  casket,  was  so  banked  with  syringse 
blossoms  that  the  effect  was  as  if  the  casket 
were  resting  in  a  garden  of  syringaes.  The 
floral  pieces  were  placed  at  either  end  of  the 
casket.  The  floral  decoration  on  the  casket 
was  a  wreath  of  laurel,  placed  there  by  mem- 
bers of  the  family.     The  wreath  was  tied 


150  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

with  a  large  knot  of  purple  ribbon,  the  ends 
of  which  fell  upon  the  black  silk  gown,  which 
the  doctor  wore  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Brick 
Church  and  which,  at  Mrs.  Babcock's  sug- 
gestion, was  thrown  over  the  casket  as  the 
flag  is  thrown  over  the  coffin  of  a  soldier. 
The  seats  on  either  side  of  the  middle  aisle 
were  reserved  for  the  family,  the  honourary 
pall-bearers,  members  of  the  New  York 
Presbytery,  delegations  of  clergymen  from 
denominations  other  than  Presbyterian,  and 
the  members  from  Brown  Memorial  Church. 
The  funeral  party  entered  in  a  column  of 
twos.  At  the  head  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
van  Dyke  of  Princeton  University,  Dr.  Bab- 
cock's predecessor  as  pastor  of  the  Brick 
Church.  With  him  walked  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  President  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary.  Then  came  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Wilton  Merle  Smith,  pastor  of  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church ;  and  with  him 
our  own  pastor.  After  them  came  the  Rev. 
James  N.  Farr,  formerly  assistant  pastor  of 


In   Memoriam  151 

the  Brick  Church  and  now  pastor  of  Christ 
Church,  affihated  with  the  Brick  Church. 
With  him  walked  the  Rev.  George  S.  Web- 
ster, pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant, 
also  affiliated.  After  the  clergy  came  the 
four  honourary  pall-bearers  from  Brown 
Memorial  Church, — John  P.  Ammidon, 
James  A.  Gary,  William  A.  Hanway,  H. 
M.  Simmons, — followed  by  the  honourary 
pall-bearers  from  the  Brick  Church.  Fol- 
lowing these  were  the  members  of  the 
family.  As  the  procession  moved  along  the 
aisle.  Dr.  van  Dyke,  who  conducted  the 
services,  recited  appropriate  passages  of 
Scripture,  the  organist  playing  an  improvisa- 
tion. As  the  participating  clergymen  took 
their  seats  upon  the  platform  one  could  not 
but  observe  the  unusual  fact  that  all  were 
comparatively  young  men  in  the  ministry — 
classmate,  companion  in  travel,  affiliated 
ministers,  predecessor  in  the  Brick  Church 
pulpit  and  successor  in  the  Brown  Memorial 
pulpit.     "  Ten  Thousand  Times  Ten  Thou- 


152   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

sand,"  one  of  Dr.  Babcock's  favourite 
hymns,  was  sung  by  the  congregation,  the 
choir  leading.  Dr.  van  Dyke  then  arose  and 
with  evident  emotion  said  : 

"  Let  me  tell  you,  as  simply  as  possible, 
the  form  of  these  services.  Dr.  Cuthbert 
Hall  will  offer  prayer.  Dr.  Wilton  Smith, 
who  was  with  our  brother  on  that  journey 
through  the  Holy  Land,  will  read  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  pastor  of  Dr. 
Babcock's  old  church  in  Baltimore,  will  pro- 
nounce the  benediction.  There  will  be  no 
address,  not  because  there  is  nothing  to  say, 
but  because  of  the  wish  of  her  whose  wish 
with  us  to-day  is  sacred.  But  what  need  of 
an  address  ?  One  does  not  light  a  candle  to 
find  a  sunbeam.  This  is  a  family  funeral. 
We  are  all  mourners  here,  because  we  loved 
Maltbie  Babcock.  And  then  it  was  his  wish 
that  there  should  be  no  address.  Some  two 
years  ago  he  and  I  were  talking,  and  he 
asked  if  there  was  anything  peculiar  in  the 
services    of  this  church.     I  told   him  there 


The  Christ  Church  Memorial  Buildings 
334-344  West  30th  St.  bet.  8th  and  9th  Aves. 


Christ  Church  is  affiliated  with  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church,  New  York  City,  and  the  fruit  of  one  of  its  most 
successful  missions.  These  "  Memorial  Buildings '' com- 
bine a  church  to  "  commemorate  the  loving  and  faithful 
service  of  Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Brick  Church  1883-1900,  during  whose  ministry,  and  under 
whose  leadership,  Christ  Church  was  organized  as  an  in- 
dependent congregation,  June,  1888.''  Also  a  Church 
House  with  many  rooms  and  appliances  for  Church  work, 
erected  originally  in  memory  of  Randolpli  M' Alpine  1870- 
1893,  and  rebuilt  and  enlarged,  in  fulfilment  of  the  pur- 
pose, and  in  "grateful  remembrance  of  the  ministry  of 
Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Brick 
Presbyterian  Church  1 900-1 901." 

The  entrance  to  the  Church  House  is  at  the  right  of  the 
Church-  proper,  it  is  in  the  style  of  the  domestic  gothic 
of  Oxford,  and  is  really  an  L  of  the  Church  House  which 
is  a  five  story  building  completely  screened  from  the  street 
by  the  high  ridge  of  the  Church  roof. 


In  Memoriam  153 

was  not,  except  that  we  omitted  addresses  at 
funerals.  And  then  he  said :  *  I  am  glad  of 
that.  I  have  never  made  a  funeral  address 
and  I  don't  want  any  made  for  me.'  So 
there  will  be  no  address." 

The  scriptural  reading  by  Dr.  Smith,  and 
the  prayers  by  Dr.  Hall  and  Dr.  van  Dyke 
were  full  of  pathos,  and  stirred  the  emotions 
of  every  one  present.  One  of  the  most 
affecting  features  of  the  service  was  the  ren- 
dering as  an  anthem,  those  immortal  lines 
"  Emancipation,"  penned  by  Dr.  Babcock. 
The  music  was  composed  for  the  occasion  by 
Mr.  S.  Archer  Gibson,  aforetime  organist  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Baltimore. 
The  solo  part  was  effectively  sustained  by 
Mr.  M.  R.  Faville,  formerly  precentor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cortland,  N.  Y. 
After  the  singing  of  another  of  Dr.  Bab- 
cock's  favourite  selections,  "  For  all  thy 
saints  who  from  their  labours  rest,"  the 
benediction  was  pronounced  by  Mr.  Stone 
and    the    funeral    party    retired    from    the 


154  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

church  to  the  music  of  an  improvised  reces- 
sional. 


Baltimore's  Tribute 

The  field  for  fourteen  years  of  Dr.  Babcock*  s 
ministry. 

**  The  memorial  service  held  in  Baltimore 
on  the  afternoon  of  June  2d,  was  a  rare 
tribute  to  Dr.  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 
as  a  preacher  and  as  a  man.  Jew  and 
Gentile,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  black  and 
white,  gathered  to  do  honour  to  the  broad- 
minded  and  great-hearted  man  whom  they 
loved  as  probably  no  other  minister  has 
ever  been  loved  in  Baltimore.  The  largest 
auditorium  in  the  city,  the  Music  Hall,  was 
thronged  by  an  audience  numbering  about 
4,000.  Three  college  presidents  and  five 
representative  ministers  of  different  com- 
munions were  the  speakers.  The  testi- 
monies referred  to  different  phases  of  Dr. 
Babcock 's  many-sided  character.     Here  are 


In  Memoriam  155 

some    significant    sentences    from    the   ad- 
dresses : 

"  Rev.  J.  T.  Stone,  successor  to  Dr.  Bab- 
cock  as  pastor  of  Brown  Memorial  Church, 
presiding,  said  :  *  His  great  power  lay  in  his 
Christlike  thoughtfulness  for  others.  Dr. 
Babcock's  life  is  fittingly  symbolized  by  the 
vine  planted  on  our  church  wall  years  ago  by 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Babcock,  and  which  has  sent 
out  its  tendrils,  climbing  higher  and  higher 
year  by  year,  until  now  it  covers  the  whole 
building.  His  life  was  an  inspiration  to  all. 
It  was  a  broad  life,  ever  ready  to  cover  the 
defects  of  others.'  President  D.  C.  Oilman, 
of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  spoke  espe- 
cially of  Dr.  Babcock's  influence  on  young 
men.  '  To  many  a  young  man  within  the 
sound  of  my  voice  Dr.  Babcock  was  like  Hope- 
ful in  Pilgrim's  Progress,  releasing  them  from 
doubt  and  despair  with  the  key  of  promise. 
Bright,  playful,  forceful  in  diction,  his  great- 
est power  was  this — he  knew  how  to  reach 
hearts.'     Rev.  Oliver  Huckel,  of  the  Asso- 


156   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

ciate  Congregational  Church,  spoke  of  Dr. 
Babcock's  unusual  and  varied  gifts.  *  What 
a  many-sided  man  he  was — musician,  poet, 
artist,  athlete,  preacher  !  Every  phase  of  his 
versatile  Hfe  was  radiant  with  his  own  inde- 
finable, magnetic,  buoyant  and  magnificent 
personality.  He  was  a  living  exponent  of  a 
full-rounded  Christianity.' 

"  President  J.  F.  Goucher,  of  the  Woman's 
College,  spoke  of  Dr.  Babcock  in  his  relation 
to  student  life.  *  He  was  a  man  of  clear  vi- 
sion. He  saw  much  more  than  the  average 
man.  He  looked  on  men,  not  as  lawyers, 
physicians,  mechanics  merely,  but  he  saw  in 
each  one  individual  possibilities.  He  was  a 
specialist  in  applied  Christianity — and  here 
was  the  secret  of  his  power  with  students. 
Wherever  he  went  he  inspired  to  the  highest 
effort.' 

"  Rev.  A.  C.  Powell,  rector  of  Grace  Epis- 
copal Church,  spoke  of  Dr.  Babcock  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel.  *  He  had  a  subhme 
love  for  God  and  a  sublime  love  for  man. 


In  Memoriam  157 

Of  all  professional  men  the  minister  must 
embody  his  own  teaching  in  his  own  charac- 
ter. In  a  marked  degree  did  Dr.  Babcock 
attain  and  discharge  an  ideal  ministry  among 
men.' 

"  President  Patton,  of  Princeton,  spoke  of 
Dr.  Babcock  as  a  preacher  to  college  stu- 
dents. *  There  are  not  many  great  preach- 
ers, and  there  are  fewer  great  college  preach- 
ers. Dr.  Babcock  was  one  of  them.  He  was 
a  master  of  speech.  He  had  a  marvellous 
synthesis  of  feeling  and  will,  and  an  unusual 
concentration  of  thought.  The  secret  of  his 
power  lay  in  his  desire  to  make  men  better 
and  their  lives  brighter.  Attractive  physic- 
ally, touching  life  at  many  points,  knowing 
young  men,  acquainted  with  their  phraseol- 
ogy, he  was  always  sure  of  a  sympathetic 
response  from  a  student  audience.' 

"  The  last  speaker,  Rabbi  Guttmacher,  of 
the  Madison  Avenue  Temple,  closed  the  me- 
morial service  with  a  brief  but  remarkable  ad- 
dress.     He  said :    '  This   large   assemblage, 


158   Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

representing  our  entire  community,  without 
distinction  of  class  or  creed,  is  its  own  spokes- 
man on  this  occasion.  Baltimore  is  within 
these  walls.  Here  are  gathered  educators, 
jurists,  artists,  merchants  and  artisans,  and 
yet  our  sentiment  is  one.  We  mourn  the 
loss  of  one  who  used  his  great  powers  of 
heart  and  mind  in  the  service  of  man.  In 
Lessing's  great  dramatic  poem,  "  Nathan  the 
Wise,"  we  find  a  conversation  between  a 
Jew  and  a  Christian,  in  which  the  latter' 
praises  the  good  and  noble  qualities  of  Nathan. 
The  Jew,  in  answer,  says,  "  That  which  makes 
Nathan  in  thine  eyes  a  Christian  makes  him 
in  mine  an  IsraeHte."  Blessed  be  God  for 
the  life  of  such  a  man,  for  the  fragrance  of 
his  memory.  In  the  words  of  the  rabbis : 
*  May  a  memory  of  his  righteousness  be  a 
blessing  forever  and  forever.'  " 

"  Two  of  Dr.  Babcock's  hymns  were  sung 
to  his  own  music.  A  memorial  church,  to  be 
called  by  his  name  and  costing  ^50,000  is  to 
be   erected   immediately  to   perpetuate   Dr. 


In  Memoriam  159 

Babcock's      inspiring     influence     in     Balti- 
more."— B.  U.  Congregationalist. 


Babcock  Memorial  Church 

Baltimore,  Md. 

We  are  sure  no  one  has  heard  anything 
but  joyful  willingness  from  our  people  at  the 
proposed  change  in  the  name  of  our  church. 
True  we  have  all  learned  to  love  that  name 
"  Park,"  because  some  very  happy  experi- 
ences have  been  found  in  its  walls.  But  we 
love  the  new  name  far  more,  because  we 
shall  be  continually  reminded  of  the  un- 
selfish hfe  of  a  devoted  Christian  man.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  congregation  on  June  12, 
called  to  legally  accept  our  new  name,  Mr. 
Scovel  was  asked  to  act  as  chairman,  and 
Mr.  Warren  Search  as  clerk.  A  unanimous 
vote  authorized  our  trustees  to  see  that  our 
charter  was  amended  so  as  to  read  the  "  Bab- 
cock Memorial  Presbyterian  Church."  Mr. 
A.  S.  Niles  offered  his  services  to  see  that 


i6o  Maltbie  Davenport  Babcock 

the  change  in  the  charter  was  correctly- 
made.  The  congregation  then  adopted  this 
resolution  which  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Scovel. 

Resolved  that, — "  In  the  change  of  the 
name  of  our  church  from  the  '  Park  Presby- 
terian Church  '  to  the  '  Babcock  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church/  we  recognize  the 
peculiar  appropriateness  of  this  action. 

♦'  Dr.  Maltbie  D.  Babcock  was  the  divine 
agent  in  founding  and  fostering  this  work 
which  has  been  so  graciously  guided  and 
prospered  by  the  Master.  None  could  have 
been  a  more  loyal  friend  and  patron  than  he. 
The  present  building  was  an  answer  to  his 
earnest  appeal.  The  completed  edifice,  to 
be  erected  in  his  honour,  will  be  a  testimonial 
of  many  friends'  gratitude  for  a  life  lived  so 
fully  for  them  here,  one  which  is  being  Hved 
now  even  more  abundantly  in  his  home 
above. 

"  The  first  name  was  his  gift  to  us,  because 
of  the  great  natural  beauty  of  our  neighbour- 
ing park.  The  second  name  we  believe  to 
be  God's  gift  to  us,  because  of  the  great 
spiritual  beauty  of  that  noble  soul,  not  long 
since  touching  and  lifting  us,  now  forever 
abiding  in  and  inspiring  us. 

"  Closely  intertwined  with  his  love  and 
effort  for  our  church  was  an  equal  devotion 


In  Memoriam  i6i 

from  his  truly  sympathetic  life-comrade.  To 
her  also  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  which 
can  only  be  acknowledged. 

"  Our  message  to  her  of  our  deepest  sym- 
pathy, our  heart-thrilling  pride  in  our  new 
name,  and  of  new  consecration  to  his  and 
our  Master,  passes  beyond  words,  and  shall 
be  interpreted  by  the  Spirit  of  Peace  who 
leads  through  testing  to  triumph,  through 
Christ  to  Eternal  Life." 


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